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The Argentine Tax Authority (AFIP) has won a historic case to seize taxpayer funds from a digital account. The case, which was won in an appeal in the Federal Chamber of Mar del Plata, could lead to more seizures of this type and include cryptocurrencies as part of a stricter policy for the organization.
The eyes of regulators worldwide have turned to fintech and crypto companies and their operations. The Argentine Tax Authority (AFIP) recently won a landmark case in the area, allowing it to seize funds from a digital account in the country to pay tax-related debts. The request, which was first rejected by a judge and then accepted in an appeal at the Federal Chamber of Mar del Plata, could be the first of many such seizures.
The institution will be able to confiscate all the funds owed to the state, and add 15% more for interest and processing costs. The Chamber states that it finds no reason not to consider these and future funds, which were held in a digital Mercado Pago account, as part of the inheritance of the account holder.
Furthermore, the order declares that “the increase of economic and financial activity through the use of digital accounts imposes the need to interpret the law in accordance with the current circumstances,” and that these technologies cannot become evasion media for taxpayers.
The organization added this type of wallet to its list of assets subject to confiscation in February.
In the eyes of analysts, the same criteria used for digital accounts can be used to confiscate cryptocurrency. Eugenio Bruno, a specialized crypto and fintech lawyer, told Iproup that cryptocurrency assets fulfill functions as units of account and stores of value, and can also be used to make payments.
In this way, they can become graspable due to their money-like abilities. However, the management of these assets is determined by the possession of their private keys, and it is then that any seizure can be difficult to implement.
Bruno states:
In cases where crypto assets are held through exchanges, the eventual AFIP order could indicate that the private keys corresponding to digital accounts of taxpayers affected by the embargoes cannot be used to arrange transfers.
However, when these keys are not held by institutions, the applicability of the criteria becomes difficult, since the user may not present the private keys of his wallet to the authorities.
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