BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The lower house of Argentina’s Congress on Tuesday began debating a bill seeking to raise 300 billion pesos ($3.75 billion) through a tax on large fortunes to finance programs aimed at helping families hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The government-backed bill may be approved late on Tuesday if debate does not continue past midnight, as some local media predicted. The Senate was expected to consider the legislation before the end of the month once it is passed by the house. People with more than $2.5 million - about 12,000 individuals - would get hit by the 2% flat tax. The levy would increase progressively as equity increases, under the proposal. More than 35,700 Argentines have died of COVID-19 so far, according to official data.