2023-08-02 03:01:00
At the initiative of the governments of Colombia, Chile and Brazil, the First Ministerial Tax Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean was held, which aims to capture in a series of documents the path towards the construction of inclusive, sustainable and equitable (global) taxation from the region and determine positions of the Global South. At the meeting, ten thematic axes were outlined to be incorporated into a common platform of recommendations, whose secretariat will be provided by ECLAC. Various civil society institutions, such as the Oxfam, participated in the event. Human rights, environment and the elimination of privileges in the center of the scene.
“Incorporating compliance with human rights obligations and in environmental matters as general principles that guide and inform tax decision-making” is thematic axis 1, and defines a climate of times marked by the global warming crisis and the problems derived from it. of the Russo-Ukrainian war. From the Argentine point of view, axis 6 is more symbolic, since it contains the words of Vice President Fernández de Kirchner when she called for a review of the special regimes for legal entities and sectors of activity. Here are the following details of the conclusions:
1. Incorporate compliance with human rights obligations and environmental matters as general principles that guide and inform tax decision-making. The countries of the region do not use the full potential of taxation to address inequality, invest in public services, or finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that here they are on their way to being fulfilled only by 25 percent.
2. Promote the progressivity and equity of the region’s tax systems. In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 46 percent of the collection in the region comes from consumption taxes. Patrimony, inheritances and capital income should be better taxed.
3. Promote reforms of corporate taxation, especially of multinational companies, that consider and protect the interests of the region. Currently, the international taxation agenda is led by the OECD, it does not adjust or emerge from the particularities of the region.
4. Take measures aimed at increasing fiscal transparency. 27 percent of the region’s wealth is offshore. It is necessary to have the information of those who have large fortunes and do not pay what corresponds.
5. Promote taxes that seek to protect the environment, especially in relation to the energy transition and the response to the climate crisis. States are recommended to take advantage of the just transition as an opportunity to move towards more diversified and resilient economies. For this, it is necessary that the aviation and transport industries, transition minerals, the extractive sector in general and other carbon-intensive industries pay taxes proportionally to their environmental impact.
6. Review tax benefits with criteria of transparency and equity, eliminating privileges and prioritizing benefits that generate inclusive growth, sustainable development and social justice. Although there is a lot of heterogeneity within these benefits, as common features there are few legal frameworks that regulate how to create and evaluate the benefits. The opacity around decision-making and the absence of evaluation practices and accountability are worrisome.
7. Promote truly inclusive global tax governance that respects national sovereignty. The UN Resolution, unanimously adopted by the General Assembly on December 30, 2022, is of vital importance because it promotes and reaffirms the previous commitments of States to improve international tax cooperation, fight once morest illicit financial flows and combat the aggressive tax evasion and avoidance.
8. Incorporate a gender approach in fiscal policy. Gender inequalities not only persist, but have been aggravated by the negative effects of the pandemic and the environmental crisis.
9. Decolonize the standards on taxation and international transparency. The standards on international taxation are formulated, as stated, by the countries that are most responsible for tax evasion.
10. Ensure the genuine participation of civil society in the new platform.
“The Ministerial Summit, and the platform that arises from it, is a unique opportunity for States to listen to the needs of citizens and act accordingly,” reads the Oxfam page. Tax resources are of central importance to achieve justice in all its dimensions: economic, social, labor, political, climatic, cultural, racial, gender, and regional and holistic-territorial.
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