1. TAX TRANSPARENCY IN
LATIN AMERICA 2022
San Jose, Costa Rica, 3 May 2022
Ms Zayda MANATTA, Head of the Global Forum Secretariat

2. © OECD |
Tax evasion and other illicit financial flows affect domestic
resource mobilisation in Latin America
 Tax evasion and other forms of illicit financial flows (IFFs) are a global problem that hinder
domestic resource mobilisation.
 Revenue forgone due to tax evasion is estimated at 6.1% of GDP in the Latin American region
(ECLAC, 2020).
 Due to non-compliance, tax authorities in Latin America collect less than half of the revenues
they should theoretically gather in several countries in the region.
 Initiatives like the Punta del Este Declaration are highly relevant to tackle tax evasion and other
forms of IFFs and fostering economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
2
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

3. © OECD |
Strong commitment of Latin American countries
to tax transparency
 The Punta del Este Declaration is a call to tackle tax evasion and
other financial crimes through tax transparency and co-operation
 Mexico and El Salvador endorsed the Declaration in 2021
 All Latin American Global Forum members are now signatories of
the Declaration
 Bolivia is an observer
3
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

4. © OECD |
Building awareness on tax transparency in Latin America
 Reporting on regional progress
 First Punta del Este Declaration Initiative progress report in 2021
 Baseline study on wider use of treaty-exchanged information
 Advocating for tax transparency in regional events
 CIAT General Assembly
 Collaborating with regional partners
 New Beneficial Ownership toolkit with the IDB
 Model EOI Manual with the WBG
 Future chapter on International Co-operation with CIAT
 Collaboration on other technical assistance initiatives
4
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

5. © OECD |
Building capacities for tax transparency in Latin America
5
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
 10 countries benefiting from capacity-building programmes
 Induction programmes (3 countries)
 Tailored technical assistance (7 countries)
 5 training events attended by over 530 Latin American officials covering key areas of tax transparency:
 Standard on transparency and exchange of information on request (EOIR), including beneficial ownership and
foreseeable relevance
 Standard on automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI), including effective implementation
 Effective use of the EOIR and AEOI tools for tax compliance activities
 2 new e-learning courses on confidentiality and data safeguards
 3 toolkits: AEOI, beneficial ownership, and exchange of information manual
 Various other technical tools, including on information security management

6. © OECD |
Mobilising domestic revenues through tax transparency
6
Since 2019, at least EUR 25.7 billion in additional revenue were
identified in Latin America through voluntary disclosure programmes,
offshore investigations and use of exchange of information.
 Seven Latin American countries reported collecting or identifying
additional revenue as a result of use of EOIR over 2014-2021,
amounting to a total of EUR 2.6 billion.
 Of those, EUR 261 million were collected in 2021.
 Until 2021, at least EUR 21.5 billion in additional revenue have been
identified through Voluntary Disclosure Programmes launched prior to
the first AEOI exchanges.
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
Measuring progress

7. © OECD |
High priority for exchange of information in Latin America
7
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
Note: Responses from 16 countries. The labels show the number of countries and in brackets the corresponding percentage.
Source: Tax Transparency in Latin America survey
Level of priority given to exchange of information in Latin America

8. © OECD |
Requests for information are advancing in the region
8
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
Note: Responses from 15 countries. Chile has provided data on the number of requests sent but preferred not to have them published.
Source: Tax Transparency in Latin America survey
Number of requests for information sent and received by Latin American countries

9. © OECD |
But strong disparities remain between countries
9
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
Note: Responses from 15 countries. Chile has provided data on the number of requests sent but preferred not to have them published.
Source: Tax Transparency in Latin America survey
Distribution of requests for information sent by Latin American countries (in %)

10. © OECD |
Towards a multi-pronged approach for beneficial ownership transparency
10
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
Note: The labels show the number of countries using the approach(es) and the corresponding percentage in brackets.
Source: EOIR peer reviews of eight Latin American countries
Element A1 - Number of approaches used and determination and rating of the legal framework

11. © OECD |
Automatic exchange of financial account information is
progressing, but is still behind its potential
11
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
No date set yet for first exchanges:
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay
Timeline of Latin American countries’ participation in AEOI

12. © OECD |
The effective use of AEOI data is at early stage
12
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
Note: Information from seven countries implementing CRS-AEOI and using the data received. The labels show the number of countries and the corresponding percentage in brackets.
Source: Tax Transparency in Latin America survey
Number of countries using AEOI data in their tax activities

13. © OECD |
Solid exchange of information infrastructures are in place
13
Note: Responses from 16 countries. The labels show the number of countries and the corresponding percentage in brackets.
Source: Tax Transparency in Latin America survey
Number of countries with EOI organisational arrangements and technical tools
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

14. © OECD |
More capacity building for tax auditors is needed
14
Note: Responses from 16 countries. The labels show the number of countries and the corresponding percentage in brackets.
Source: Tax Transparency in Latin America survey
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
Staff’s knowledge on EOI

15. © OECD |
Exchange of information networks continue to grow in the region
15
Note: Responses from 16 countries
Source: Tax Transparency in Latin America survey
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes
Latin American countries’ exchange of information relationships, by type

16. © OECD |
Advancing wider use of treaty-exchanged information in
Latin America
 A baseline study on the wider use in Latin America was discussed by Latin
America countries (November 2021).
 The international and domestic legal basis is in place in the majority of countries.
 However, only one country in the region has reported doing wider use in
practice.
 A framework for the wider use will be developed during 2022, which may include:
 Tailored agreements
 Possible definition of a pilot project between interested countries
 Delivery of confidentiality and data safeguards trainings
16
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

17. © OECD |
Looking ahead
Building sustainable
capacities in exchange
of information
Implementing the
requirements for EOIR,
including beneficial
ownership frameworks
Encouraging
commitments to AEOI
and effective use of
related data
Advancing the wider use
of treaty-exchanged
information
Championing gender
balance in tax
transparency
Advocating for tax
transparency and co-
operating with regional
partners
17
Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

18. Thank you
For more information
https://oe.cd/ttila2022
https://twitter.com/OECDtax
gftaxcooperation@oecd.org
https://oe.cd/tax-news
Financial contributions provided by: