No one ignores that Argentina's tax pressure is one of the highest in the world and, to make matters worse, it rewards us with few, poor, and sometimes unnecessary services, to those of us who suffer it, that is, 100% of the population.
The epic struggle of President Javier Milei against this permanent theft is paradigmatic and is starting to yield results, as more and more national taxes are being eliminated or beginning to decrease, tending towards zero. This is done within what is possible, since there are many activities that the State, that is, the people, must pay for, precisely with taxes.
But there are two sectors of taxes that go politically unnoticed but weigh heavily on people, producers, and consumers: on one hand, provincial taxes and fees, which vary from place to place and reach outrageous maximums. And on the other, municipal fees.
At the initiative of Deputy Patricia Vásquez, from LLA we propose a Framework Law that, applying the rules established by the Supreme Court, protects us, the inhabitants, from the fiscal voracity of many municipalities that still today invent inadmissible taxes, with outrageous amounts, sometimes without any compensation.
This is not about invading municipal autonomy, but about subjecting it to the Declarations, Rights, and Guarantees that protect us as individuals. Municipal autonomy is not absolute nor does it allow for anything, and that is why a Framework Law is as necessary as it is constitutional under articles 5, 17, 28, and 31 of the Magna Carta.
In tax matters, the right to property and the principles of legality, reasonableness of public burdens, and non-confiscation must always be respected by all.
It is unacceptable that so far into the 21st century, many municipalities continue to force people to litigate to defend themselves against inadmissible taxes.
The mere act of demanding a lawsuit is an entry barrier that many cannot overcome, due to the costs of lawyers, the time involved, and the risks of adverse rulings in lower courts, often subjected to the political power of the moment.
Meanwhile, those municipalities squander income literally confiscated from the people, whether on unnecessary works (like the repeated changes of streetlights to the point of exhaustion in certain localities) or with scandalous overpricing (in the “curb-side,” for example).
Not to mention the services never provided or, worse yet, the services charged and not performed, such as the always pending maintenance and improvement of roadways, which are a hindrance to the export of agricultural production that brings so much wealth to the country.
It cannot be hidden that a good part of these fiscal excesses not only lack justification but are diverted to hire unnecessary municipal labor, with the sole objective of securing votes with those salaries or worse, with handouts both during election times and throughout the year.
Let us remember that the Constitution is very clear: the right to property cannot even be “altered” by the laws that regulate it and, furthermore, municipal autonomies are not absolute, and thus articles 31 and 5 of the Constitution compel the provinces to ensure that their constitutions respect the national one.
The Court has stated many times that no local authority, under the pretext of exercising tax powers, can distort the right to property, nor impose patrimonial burdens lacking sufficient legal cause.
Unfortunately, these declarations are not enough and we believe that the Court must act with true jurisdictional energy, condemning municipalities that violate these rules not only to restore them but to fully compensate for the damages caused and, in addition, to pay a punitive amount - punitive damages - to deter them from abusing powers they do not have.
Because NOTHING prevents the Court from imposing monetary sanctions on public officials who disobey its rulings or blatantly violate its jurisprudence.
Let us not forget that when a municipality charges a fee without providing a real, concrete, and individualized service, it is not exercising autonomy, but violating the Constitution and committing a crime by stealing, under its imperium, money that belongs to the people. It is no different from a simple police officer demanding payment of a fine, threatening a driver with his weapon.
The Framework Law proposed by Deputy Vásquez does not invade municipal powers, does not regulate them, does not create fees, does not set rates, nor establishes taxable bases.
The Vásquez Law project only rescues and upholds the fundamental constitutional principles of validity already established in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and the Supreme Court of the province of Buenos Aires for several years.
It is impossible for Argentina to grow without freedom, and freedom is incompatible with a tax pressure that takes away people's capacity for production, progress, and constant improvement.
