The fiscal hypocrisy of PRO: the inconsistency between discourse and management in CABA

For more than 15 years, PRO has governed the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. It has had a legislative majority, control of local finances, and the ability to implement its vision of government without major institutional restrictions. During all that time, however, one promise has been repeated cyclically in every electoral campaign: tax reduction. It is a discursive axis that appeals to the middle-class electorate, entrepreneurs, and businesspeople tired of fiscal pressure, but it systematically evaporates once the electoral process is concluded.

The latest chapter of this story is led by Jorge Macri, the current head of the Buenos Aires government, who took office in December 2023 with a speech of state efficiency, spending rationalization, and tax relief. However, shortly after starting his administration, the narrative came into direct conflict with reality. Far from implementing a tax reduction, the Buenos Aires government implemented significant increases in key taxes such as vehicle registration, ABL, property tax, and even proposed, although later retracted, taxing professionals with Gross Income Tax.
 

Growing fiscal pressure in the name of "management"

Tax increases in the City are not new. During Horacio Rodríguez Larreta's administrations, systematic annual increases were recorded that eroded taxpayers' purchasing power. Jorge Macri's administration, instead of breaking with that logic, has deepened it.

One of the most evident cases was vehicle registration. In January 2025, many Buenos Aires residents faced increases of up to 84% in the automotive tax. The same happened with ABL, whose update was proposed differently depending on the area: up to 25% in the south of the city, 50% in the center, and up to 100% in the northern neighborhoods. Progressivity, in this case, was a discursive excuse to advance on the neighbor's pocket with a hidden increase, disguised as territorial equity.

Even more serious was the intention to tax professionals with Gross Income Tax, a sector historically exempt in the city. Although social and political pressure forced the Executive to backtrack, the mere fact of having considered it shows a fiscal orientation contrary to the liberal spirit proclaimed in campaigns.

A structural contradiction: between marketing and management

The underlying problem is not only fiscal but political. PRO has been built as a force that claims to oppose the "elephantine State," the privileges of the political caste, and tax suffocation, but when it comes to managing, it reproduces many of the vices it criticizes. The gap between electoral marketing and real politics has been a constant.

While PRO candidates talk about relieving the productive sector, the structure of the Buenos Aires State remains oversized, inefficient, and costly. The City's budget allocates billions of pesos to unnecessary items, keeps duplicated agencies, and continues to subsidize activities that should be in private hands. There is no clear policy of deregulation, nor a real commitment to austerity in political spending. On the contrary, the logic remains to collect more to sustain a state apparatus that doesn't dare to shrink.
 

The contrast with the national government

PRO's hypocrisy becomes more evident when compared to the fiscal policy of the national government led by Javier Milei. Unlike the Buenos Aires administration, the national Executive has implemented a concrete reduction in public spending, accompanied by a progressive tax reduction. In just four months of management, the PAIS tax on capital goods imports was eliminated, export duties for regional economies were reduced, trade was deregulated, and clear signals of openness and economic freedom were sent.

Additionally,  the national government achieved a financial surplus in January, February, and March 2025, something unprecedented in decades. This demonstrates that it is possible to reduce taxes if the political decision to reduce the size of the State is made first. It is precisely that decision that PRO has not wanted, or has not been able, to make in its years of management in the country's richest city.

The richest city, but also the most expensive

The City of Buenos Aires has a millionaire budget, per capita income higher than many provinces, and a solid tax base. However, instead of using that institutional capital to free citizens from tax burdens, PRO governments have opted for a progressive administration.

Resources are allocated to "inclusion" and "gender" policies of dubious effectiveness, hundreds of contracts are maintained in unnecessary bureaucratic areas, and communication campaigns are prioritized over structural reforms. The culture of state efficiency promised by Mauricio Macri in his beginnings has been replaced by comfortable management, which has become accustomed to living off the coffers without questioning it.

The liberal and productive electorate that has historically voted for PRO is beginning to open its eyes. Javier Milei's figure has highlighted the lack of coherence of the yellow party, by showing that it is possible to do what was promised for years without fulfilling. It is not enough to say that taxes will be lowered; it must be done. And to do it, spending must be reduced first. There is no other way.

Jorge Macri's administration, instead of correcting the course, has reaffirmed the line of his predecessors. More taxes, more spending, more excuses. In contrast, the national government has shown that, with conviction and courage, it is possible to move toward a free, competitive, and productive country model.

Buenos Aires residents deserve an administration that stops collecting to spend and starts freeing to grow. Meanwhile, PRO doesn't understand that, its discourse of tax relief will be just that: discourse.