Argentine lawmaker proposes bill allowing salary payments in digital currencies

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Argentinian workers will be able to receive their salaries in digital currencies if a new proposed bill sails through the South American country’s parliament. The bill seeks to allow employees and service exporters to receive part or their full salary in digital currencies in a bid to preserve its purchasing power.

Argentina has been one of the countries seeing the highest inflation in the past few years. This has sparked an uptake of digital currencies, with many viewing them as a better alternative to the local peso. Now, employees in the country could get the opportunity to get paid in digital currencies, courtesy of a bill proposed by Congressman José Luis Ramón.

Presenté un proyecto de ley para que los trabajadores en relación de dependencia y exportadores de servicios tengan la opción de cobrar su sueldo entero o parcial en criptomonedas. La idea es que puedan fortalecer su autonomía y conservar el poder adquisitivo de su remuneración👇

— José Luis Ramón (@JoseLuisRamonOk) July 6, 2021

Ramón, who is a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, said “the idea is that they [the workers] can strengthen their autonomy and conserve the purchasing power of their remuneration.”

He added, “This initiative stems from the need to promote greater autonomy and governance of wages, without this implying a loss of rights or exposure to situations of abuse within the framework of the employment relationship.”

In Argentina, those who receive payments in foreign currencies have to convert them to the local peso upon receipt. Additionally, due to a law passed in December 2019, foreign currencies attract a 30% tax.

According to local outlet La Nueva Mañana, digital currencies may be exempt from this law. This could see the employees and exporters make significant savings if they receive their remuneration in Bitcoin (BSV) and other digital currencies.

As per the proposed bill, Argentine employees will have the absolute power to make and alter their decisions on accepting, modifying or revoking digital currency payments. It also lays out what the obligations of the employer will be. One of these will be having to bear the costs of the transfer of digital currencies. Those who choose to make their payments in BSV will not have to worry about this as the transaction fee are negligible.

Argentina continues to experience high inflation as the government struggles with its monetary policies. While in the past month it has seen lower inflation than projected, it stands at 21.5% for the year and 48% year-on-year.

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