On 27 June 2023 the OECD published Tax Transparency in Latin America 2023, during the latest meeting of the Punta del Este initiative. The Punta del Este Declaration aimed to tackle tax evasion and avoidance and other financial crimes by promoting the effective use of exchange of information (EOI) and international transparency standards.

The report looks at the progress achieved in tax transparency in the region and aims to help raise awareness of the benefits flowing from the implementation of tax transparency standards. The information shared contributes to knowledge of the regional efforts to combat tax evasion and other illicit financial flows (IFFs).

The report notes the benefits of exchanging information in terms of the additional income brought into the tax net. A survey of Latin American countries has revealed that they have been able to identify at least EUR 27.8 billion as a result of the provisions for exchange of information on request (EOIR), automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI), voluntary disclosure programmes and offshore tax investigations. The statistics reveal that currently the revenue collection related to exchange of information (EOI) is limited to a few of the larger countries and not all the countries of the region can support the effective use of EOI to combat tax evasion and other IFFs. One third of the Latin American members of the Global Forum do not participate in AEOI and some countries participating are not able to fully utilise the information gained from other countries. This is a problem for domestic revenue mobilisation in many of the countries.

In 2022 some steps were taken to widen the use of the information exchanged through tax treaties for non-tax purposes, such as money laundering, financing of terrorism and corruption. A framework was agreed for wider use of the information and a multilateral pilot project was agreed for wider use by three Latin American countries. A program for confidentiality and safeguarding data has also been designed for the use of the participating government agencies.

The Latin American countries have further implemented the EOIR and AEOI standards through the Global Forum’s activities, by improving the availability of beneficial ownership information and
by building administrative compliance frameworks for AEOI. Further work is to be done in future years to improve both the legal framework and the effective implementation of the standards and to increase the number of countries participating in AEOI.