Rural Tax Evasion in Argentina: An Analysis of Tax Evasion Mechanisms and Social Relationships in the Córdoba Grain Market

Abstract

This paper uses a theoretical perspective based on the ideas of Foucault, critical criminology, and rural criminology, to examine how social relations influenced tax evasion mechanisms in agriculture in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. The paper’s main contribution is to show how tax evasion mechanisms are deeply rooted in social relationships developed in the grain market. Through the analysis of thirty interviews, official statistics of tax evasion convictions, and administrative resolutions issued by the national tax agency, I argue that severe formal controls were unsuccessful in eradicating tax evasion because normative changes could not abruptly annul the social relations that made tax evasion in agriculture possible. On the contrary, tax evasion persisted, although some evasion mechanisms were left aside and new ones were created. Thus, it is necessary to stress the importance of a paper that studies economic crimes in geographic areas outside the global north, such as rural Argentina.

Creative Commons License
Except where otherwise noted, content in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Published: 2019-05-07
Pages:68 to 82
Section:Articles
Fetching Scopus statistics
Fetching Web of Science statistics
How to Cite
Comba, A. (2019) “Rural Tax Evasion in Argentina: An Analysis of Tax Evasion Mechanisms and Social Relationships in the Córdoba Grain Market”, International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 8(2), pp. 68-82. doi: 10.5204/ijcjsd.v8i2.1153.

Author Biography

University of Buenos Aires
 Argentina

Antonella Comba has a degree in Sociology, is Professor in Sociology and recently completed her  Ph.D. in Social Sciences -program oriented to crime and social control- in the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Her studies have been oriented to study, from a social sciences perspective, white collar crimes, economic crimes, and rural criminology. Currently, her research is divided into two areas of focus: a) the study on the configuration of economic crimes in rural areas in Argentina. The research is oriented to analyze techniques of justification and rationalization of tax evasion, as well as tax evasion and laundering maneuvers; b) the study of the links between economic crimes and the exploitation of feminized bodies. Here, research is oriented to discover how the money earned illegally by prostitution and trafficking networks -were usually women are exploited- is later laundered in great banks were the earning is appropriated generally by men.

She also works at an NGO specialized in Economic Crimes in Argentina and teaches several graduate and postgraduate courses on the subject of Criminology and Criminal Markets.

She loves pasta, chocolate and doing sports, especially football and tennis!