On April 27, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, through a virtual presentation, announced that in a measure to “optimize the city government,” its residents will now be able to pay their taxes through Bitcoin and other currencies.
“We have the clear conviction that citizens must own their information, their documents, because we trust in their ability and they have the responsibility to do so,” Rodriguez Larreta said during his presentation. “All this data flow, which is going to increase exponentially, is going to be protected by blockchain technology, the second transformation.”
This project has 12 main objectives, such as using blockchain technology to protect personal data. The initiative called “Buenos Aires+” has as its overall vision the improvement of public services through technological improvements.
According to Larreta, “it will be necessary to take advantage of decentralized digital technologies” to fulfill this new project. So far, the city has digitalized 900 different procedures.
The ninth measure of this plan includes the payment of taxes with Bitcoin or other currencies as an option.
“People will have the possibility of digitally authenticating their identity through an application and will have access, in a single place, to their information, documentation, and personal records, facilitating the management of their procedures, applications, and permits,” he wrote on Twitter.
In Rodrguez Larreta’s words, leveraging blockchain technology “will allow users to have control over their data.” Blockchain-powered identification services have already been widely explored, including initiatives by ConsenSys, the World Economic Forum, R3 and IBM.
The idea is to partner with several wallets and payment processors to convert digital payments into fiat money after they are made. This way, the municipality would not keep tokens as part of the public treasury.
On the other hand, this idea was not well accepted by all citizens.
The measure has ways to keep track of those who have undeclared income so that they can be taxed from these wallets as well.
However, there is a possibility that tourists arriving in Buenos Aires will find more merchants accepting Bitcoin payments.
