Rodrigo Arim would continue not to pay taxes

Rodrigo Arim, current director of the Office of Planning and Budget (OPP) and former rector of the Universidad de la República (Udelar), is the subject of a public controversy in April-May 2025 for tax evasion related to his summer house in the Solís resort, Maldonado department. 

The case emerged shortly after the resignation of former Housing Minister Cecilia Cairo, due to serious similar irregularities in her properties. 

History of a tax evader

In 2011, Arim bought a vacant plot of 898 m² (9,665 square feet) in Solís. 

Between 2015 and 2016, he built an impressive house of 127 m² (1,367 square feet), but he only registered 24 m² (258 square feet) with the National Cadastre Directorate. 

This resulted in a low cadastral value, which automatically exempted him from the Primary Education Tax (intended for public education) and reduced the Property Tax he paid.

The Maldonado Municipality identified the discrepancy in 2024 through drone images, as part of a general audit for noncompliance in tax payments. 

The house was perfectly habitable and was used as a summer house, and was even rented out on weekends and during the season, but without the "end of construction" procedure required by law.

Public revelation

On April 29, 2025, the radio program La Pecera on Azul FM (hosted by Ignacio Álvarez) exposed the case, pointing out that Arim had not submitted plans or regularized the construction, evading taxes for a decade.

In his first public statements, Rodrigo Arim blatantly lied and denied the evasion, but a few days later he had no choice but to confess that he had evaded taxes for a decade.

Usurper of university titles

Additionally, when he was rector of UdelaR, the highest position at the state university, he signed as Doctor of Economics, a title he never obtained since his actual university degree is a Bachelor's in Economics.

In official documents, he signed as Doctor of Economics, which is completely illegal. This was not a mistake; he knowingly lied.

Is he still evading taxes?

So far, as of late October, it is unknown whether Rodrigo Arim paid what he owed; he remains a tax evader. 

Meanwhile, Uruguayan taxpayers are suffocated by all kinds of taxes, the current OPP director was not paying the corresponding taxes either to the Maldonado municipality or to Anep, which is the entity that collects the Primary Education Tax destined for the poorest children in public schools.

Arim represents everything that is wrong in a public official. While he demands that taxpayers pay their taxes, he cheerfully evades them for 10 years, and blatantly lies when he is caught.

He is an indecent person who continues to hold a position in Orsi's government. He should be dismissed.