Argentina's Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, called the mayor of Pilar, Federico Achával, "irresponsible" and urged citizens "not to buy" in his district due to a tax increase.
From his social media, the official cited an article published this weekend by the Argentine News Agency (NA), which reported that the municipality decided to increase the tax pressure on supermarket cash registers, a measure that directly impacts the final ticket price.
"Don't buy anything in Pilar. Let everyone know who is truly in favor of and who is against the people and the industry," Caputo assured.
According to the Argentine News Agency, this increase is the Environmental Protection Tax, a municipal tax of 2% that has been in effect since December 1st for large chains and affects the final price of products.
"Do not endorse your mayor's irresponsible actions. The Association of United Supermarkets (ASU) did the right thing: expose them," he added.
In the words of tax advisor César Litvin, "whoever buys in Pilar will pay 2% more."
Caputo decided to publish on his X account the excerpt from the article in which the ASU demanded an audience due to the "serious harm" that the application of the tax will cause: there will be a loss of sales (since the surcharge particularly affects the sale of high-value products such as home appliances); it will have an impact during these times due to the end-of-year holidays, when family consumption increases significantly; and it creates unfair competition against other stores that sell similar products and are not required to increase the price by 2%.
