This book provides a comprehensive analysis of tax systems and tax reforms in a number of Latin American countries since the early 1990's, including Argentina and Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico, Paraguay, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay.

The authors present and discuss tax systems from a broad quantitative and historical perspective and describe the main taxes existing in each country, presenting the details of their institutional features. The existing interactions between the economic structure, the corporate tax system and the attraction of FDI inflows are of paramount importance and these issues are deeply analyzed in the book. A characteristic trait of the area is the proliferation of tax havens, particularly located in the Caribbean and in some other small islands, and the book provides an analysis of these havens and the counteractions adopted by the OECD countries. Finally, the book investigates the political economy of Latin America's taxation, exploring why many of these countries have experienced a democratic transition but poor economic performances.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of tax systems and tax reforms in a number of Latin American countries since the early 1990's, including Argentina and Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico, Paraguay, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay. The authors present and discuss tax systems from a broad quantitative and historical perspective and describe the main taxes existing in each country, presenting the details of their institutional features. The existing interactions between the economic structure, the corporate tax system and the attraction of FDI inflows are of paramount importance and these issues are deeply analyzed in the book. A characteristic trait of the area is the proliferation of tax havens, particularly located in the Caribbean and in some other small islands, and the book provides an analysis of these havens and the counteractions adopted by the OECD countries. Finally, the book investigates the political economy of Latin America's taxation, exploring why many of these countries have experienced a democratic transition but poor economic performances.

In South and Central America, a movement toward further economic integration has begun. Those policy actions may one day become part of a process that could create a single economy including several Latin American and Caribbean countries. They have significant implications for policies related to public finances and especially the countries' tax systems.

In the hope of helping to make the process smoother, and to foster a better understanding of the policy actions required, the Inter-American Development Bank studied the impact of trade integration on taxes. Twelve of these studies are collected in "Taxation and Latin American Integration," covering such topics as the impact of trade liberalization on tax revenues and fiscal balances; harmonization and the instruments needed to achieve it; tax coordination among different regions of the same country; globalization and tax competition; tax incentives for foreign investment; tax treaties; transfer pricing and integration; exchange of information among tax administrations; economic integration and pensions; capital income tax coordination; and the impact of globalization on tax systems.