Argentina has almost 2.9 million self-employed tax-payers
Argentina has almost 2.9 million self-employed people, according to data from the Labour Ministry.
Independent labour as a whole expanded 11.3 percent (294,500 workers) last year when comparing ‘monotributo’ taxation data of the selfemployed with 2021 (39.7 percent in the social categories and plus 6.6 percent in the normal) while the number paying into the ‘autónomos’ tax régime for the self-employed grew a mere 1.6 percent.
Companies prefer that form of employment because they avoid paying all employer contributions and can cancel the labour relationship at any moment, specialists warn, worsening precarious employment conditions.
Furthermore, the number of people with registered employment in the country reached 13.07 million, up 0.2 percent (or 27,700 more people) on the previous month. Year-on-year, the increase was 4.9 percent (or 607,900 more workers), according to the latest Labour Ministry report, based on the data from the SIPA (Sistema Integrado Previsional Argentino) pension system.
Of that total, 10,187,000 people with registered wage labour were calculated (including the private and public sectors and domestic service).
Employment levels last November were 4.4 percent above the figure in February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic, with salaried employment barely 0.1 percent below the historical peak reached in December, 2017, added the Labour Ministry.
The total number of people in registered wage employment increased 0.2 percent (16,000 more workers) last month, driven by private-sector firms where the number of workers grew 0.2 percent (14,400 more workers) while domestic service rose 0.1 percent (700 people) and public employment remained stable.
Independent labour grew 0.4 percent (or 11,700 workers) from the previous month as a consequence of registration into the ‘monotributo social’ (up 11 percent or 60,800 workers) scheme outweighing those previously registered who left (50,800 people or 2.6 percent less), while those working within the ‘autónomo’ régime grew 0.4 percent (or 1,700 more people).
A year-on-year comparison shows salaried employment expanding 3.2 percent (plus 313,400 workers), mainly in the private sector (plus 4.4 percent or 263,500 jobs), followed by the public (plus 1.5 percent or 51,000 more people).
Monthly growth of registered wage labour was verified in nine of the 14 sectors analysed.