Tax revenues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) dipped in 2016, falling further behind average OECD country levels, but a recovery is likely in subsequent years. This report provides an overview of the main taxation trends in Latin America and the Caribbean. It examines changes in both the level and the composition of taxation plus the attribution of tax collection by sub-level of government between 1990 and 2016.
The report covers the following topics:
- Tax revenue trends, 1990-2016
- Special feature: Fiscal revenues from non-renewable natural resources in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Special feature: Income tax in Latin America
- Tax levels and tax structures, 1990-2016
- Country tables, 1990-2016 – Tax revenues
- Tax revenues by sub-sectors of general government
Tax-to-GDP ratios in the LAC region:
- In 2016, the average tax-to-GOP ratio in the LAC region was 22.7%. Tax-to-GOP ratios varied widely between countries, ranging from 12.6% in Guatemala to 41.7% in Cuba. Most countries’ tax-to-GOP ratios were between 17% and 26%. All LAC countries had a tax-to-GOP ratio below the OECO average of 34.3% except for Cuba.
- Between 2015 and 2016, the average LAC tax-to-GOP ratio decreased by 0.3 percentage points, whereas the OECO average tax-to-GOP ratio increased by 0.3 percentage points over the same period. As a result, the gap between the OECD and LAC average tax-to-GOP ratios increased from 10.9 percentage points in 2015 to 11.5 percentage points in 2016.
- The decrease in the tax-to-GOP ratio in the LAC region reflects the overall economic environment in the Latin American region, where real GOP growth has been slowing since 2012, and where there has been an absence of structural tax reforms in most countries. This decrease is likely to reverse in future years with the improving economic climate in 2017 and 2018. In particular, commodity prices are recovering and the LAC region is expected to achieve GOP growth of between 2% and 2.5% in 2018.
- Commodity prices continue to be an important driver for tax revenue trends in most LACcountries. The drop in the average LAC tax-to-GOP ratio in 2016 was driven by a decrease of 0.2 percentage points in revenue from income taxes. This decline was largely attributable to a decrease in corporate income tax (CIT) receipts of the same amount.
Total pages 308 • Language English / Spanish
More detailed insights from the report Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 2018 can be read online through this link: