Indonesia and Argentina Sign Memorandum of Understanding for Automatic Exchange of Information

The Director General of Taxes, Suryo Utomo as Competent Authority (CA) of Indonesia and the Argentina Federal Administrator of Public Revenue, Carlos Daniel Castagneto as CA of Argentina signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Automatic Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (hereinafter referred to as the Memorandum of Understanding/MOU) between the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) and the Federal Administration of Public Revenue Argentina (AFIP). The signings were carried out separately in Buenos Aires and Jakarta, where CA of Argentina first signed the MOU on November 10, 2022 and then CA of Indonesia signed the MOU on December 7, 2022.

As countries that have signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA), Indonesia and Argentina have exchanged information automatically since 2018. The current automatic exchange of information was carried out to exchange financial information covered by the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The newly MOU will become a legal basis for Indonesia and Argentina in carrying out the exchange of information automatically for information out of the scope of CRS, which covers information on withholding tax (AEOI on Withholding Tax). This automatic exchange of information will be carried out on a yearly basis starting in 2023.

With the entry into force of this MOU, Indonesia will obtain information regarding income earned by Indonesian taxpayers as well as the withholding tax in relation to that income, and vice versa. In addition, information related to capital owned by Indonesian taxpayers in Argentina, such as information on ownership of immovable assets, will also be exchanged. This information will be used to strengthen the tax database in the implementation of risk analysis management, monitoring of taxpayer compliance, and law enforcement in the field of taxation.

DGT realizes that cooperation between countries is a very crucial tool in counteracting tax evasion practices. Thus, it is expected that the existence of the MOU will assist DGT's efforts in collecting data, particularly data from cross-border transactions. Moreover, the collaboration between DGT and AFIP is a form of global commitment in combating cross-border tax evasion and in the framework of realizing inclusive global tax transparency.