"Weapons, drugs, and devices": In response to Mercado Pago's claim for gross income, Santa Fe responds with the POS terminals used by drug traffickers.

The government of the province of Santa Fe responded Tuesday night to the measure announced this morning by Mercado Libre , which will begin to differentiate the tax burden of each province, starting next Tuesday, both on its buying and selling platform and on Mercado Pago, its payment platform.

The Minister of Economy of that province asserted that the company retaliated because the governor's office demanded that Marcos Galperín's firm impose stricter controls on the granting of payment points, claiming that part of the company's systems end up operating in illicit activities.

"It's false that Santa Fe has increased the tax burden on online sales platforms," ​​excused Pablo Olivares, Minister of Economy of Santa Fe . Earlier this Tuesday, Mercado Libre announced that, after months of complaints about the tax burden in certain provinces, it had decided to differentiate between national and provincial taxes on its interface during operations on both its e-commerce platform and its payment app, Mercado Pago.

The company released the statement Tuesday morning: "The Gross Income Tax increases the cost of solutions offered by digital platforms, and this affects millions of consumers and businesses."

However, hours later, Olivares expressed a contrary, rather distrustful view: "We are witnessing a maneuver in which the company is seeking false excuses to discriminate against its users."

" This statement (from the company) seems like a reprisal to the demand that we have been making to Mercado Libre since the beginning of the year to carry out basic controls on those who provide them with Point devices, given that in many places or bunkers where drugs are sold, Point devices (card and QR readers) from Mercado Pago are seized," he continued in a publication that he shared on his account on the social network X.

It's false that Santa Fe has increased the tax burden on online sales platforms. This is a maneuver in which the company is seeking false excuses to price discriminate against its users.

This statement appears to be a reprisal for the claim that has been made since the beginning… https://t.co/ZaAJV3mSfR

— Pablo Olivares (@polivares3) July 2, 2025

And he went on emphatically: "The photos of the raids in the Province of Santa Fe show an increasingly common scene: weapons, drugs, and Mercado Pago devices ."

"This situation is paradoxical because while Mercado Libre indirectly facilitates drug trafficking transactions , the State of Santa Fe must allocate gross income resources to finance security policies and police actions to combat these same illicit activities," Olivares concluded.

In addition to the accusations made by the Santa Fe minister, the truth is that Pullaro's administration has been the target of tax criticism from both the national government and Marcos Galperín himself.

Perhaps Tuesday's decision is yet another chapter in which the company had already deepened these differences. Tuesday's decision, according to the company, would make the amount of the tax burden more transparent in different parts of the country.

"Until now, fees for selling on Mercado Libre and Mercado Pago were the same across the country, but the growing differences in gross income tax rates between provinces are ultimately hurting those who work and shop in those with lower tax burdens," the company announced early Tuesday.

In practice, Mercado Libre's decision, which would take effect on Tuesday, July 8, would mean, for example, that sales charges could be lowered in Corrientes, Río Negro, Santa Cruz, Formosa, and Santiago del Estero, while simultaneously increasing them in jurisdictions such as Córdoba, Santa Fe, and Jujuy, where Gross Income Tax (IIBB) taxes are higher than the national average.

" It is a distorting tax that affects sellers and consumers, makes products and services more expensive, goes against formalization, and generates higher costs," the Mercado Libre statement added. For now, the Santa Fe government cites other reasons.