The former Deputy Minister of Economy during the second administration of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Emmanuel Álvarez Agis, sparked a major controversy today after proposing the creation of a tax on cash withdrawals.
President Javier Milei was quick to respond and described the idea as a form of "theft" from consumers, in a direct message aimed at sectors identified with the impoverishing Kirchnerism model.
Álvarez Agis's proposal emerged during an interview on El Destape, where he suggested a scheme that would combine "stick and carrot," that is, incentives and penalties. According to his explanation, the idea would be to eliminate the check tax, which levies formal banking transactions, and replace it with a tax on cash withdrawals.
Emmanuel Álvarez Agis, ex viceministro de Economía kirchnerista.
In his own words, the former official stated: "The consumer demands that you pay with digital payment methods because you have a tax on cash, that forces businesses to formalize and above all rewards all companies, like mine, that have all their flows formalized."
This way, Álvarez Agis defended the initiative as a tool to supposedly reduce informality, although its negative effects on Argentinians' purchasing power caused strong criticism.
The most controversial point appeared when the economist estimated that the new levy could represent up to 10% of the amount withdrawn. "I go to the ATM, put in $1,000 and get $900," he illustrated.
Javier Milei, presidente de Argentina.
The reaction of the ruling party
That phrase quickly went viral on social media and was echoed by leaders of the ruling party, who interpreted the proposal as evidence of Kirchnerism's revenue-raising drive. Among them, Agustín Romo, president of the libertarian bloc in the Buenos Aires Legislature, warned that "the kukas want to impose a tax on cash," criticizing the new attempt to punish taxpayers.
President Javier Milei himself addressed the controversy from his account on X, where he wrote: "KIRCHNERISTA = THIEF. The former Deputy Minister of Economy under Kicillof openly proposes to steal 10% of your income that you allocate to consumption. They never think about reducing spending but only about how to collect more so they can be the ones who decide how much and on what to spend your money."
