Wife of Argentina's Chief of Staff joins 'fiscal innocence' tax program

Bettina Julieta Angeletti, the wife of Argentina's Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni, has enrolled in a tax regularization program known as "fiscal innocence." Records from the Tax and Customs Control Agency (ARCA) show she applied for the scheme on May 31. The program, established by Law 27.799, permits individuals to declare previously undeclared income and assets for the 2025 fiscal year without facing criminal sanctions or tax records.

The "fiscal innocence" law serves as a self-disclosure mechanism for taxpayers operating in the informal economy. Participants avoid criminal penalties and a negative tax history, provided they regularize their tax declarations and payments. It is not a complete tax amnesty but a normalization process without punishment. Angeletti's enrollment and simultaneous formalization of her value-added tax (VAT) and income tax filings in October 2025 suggest she operated without full tax registration for several years.

This action is particularly noteworthy given Manuel Adorni's prominent role. As Chief of Staff, Adorni has been a central spokesperson for the Milei administration, advocating for state transparency, public spending control, and the fight against corruption. His public message has consistently emphasized austerity and integrity. Therefore, the late tax regularization by a member of his immediate family, specifically his spouse, creates a clear narrative conflict between his administration's discourse and the financial situation of a key official's household.

There is a substantial time gap between Angeletti's registration as a self-employed individual and her tax formalization. She has been registered as a self-employed worker since April 2017, listed under "professional, scientific, and technical activities." However, she did not formalize her registration for VAT or income tax until October 2025, nearly eight years later. This gap implies she operated without issuing tax receipts, maintaining mandatory accounting records, or reporting income to the tax authorities during that period, despite her theoretical self-employed status.

The situation raises a direct question: How could a worker registered since 2017 remain outside the tax system until less than eight months ago? According to ARCA, Angeletti is categorized as a T2 self-employed worker, with annual incomes starting from $20,001. The application details do not specify the amounts regularized or the assets declared under Law 27.799, as this information is protected by fiscal secrecy. The extent of the funds regularized, their origin, and the reasons for the delayed formalization remain unknown.