LatAm: Tax authorities address negative effects of the pandemic on national coffers

Welcome to the second issue of LatAm Tax Insights. Here, we call your attention to the most recent tax measures undertaken or proposed by some LatAm tax authorities to address the negative effects of the pandemic on national coffers.

The approaches vary from incentives to additional taxation:

• Argentinean authorities issued a new corporate income tax rates classification, aiming to provide some relief to smaller companies.
• Seeking additional revenues, Brazil’s Ministry of Economy released its second-phase tax reform package to Congress.
• In Colombia, a major tax reform package was withdrawn in the face of widespread, intense opposition, and the government recently presented a revised draft reform package to Congress.  Our colleagues share some conclusions from a commission of experts on negative effects arising from municipal-level turnover taxes.
• Mexican tax authorities have issued a very interesting – albeit not binding – guidance report on the effective payable income tax rates SAT expects of 40 key economic sectors.
• Finally, our Peruvian colleagues report on how SUNAT has been actively seeking additional revenue using privileged information filed by taxpayers who were taking advantage of 2017’s tax amnesty.

As we look farther ahead in 2021, we expect to see widely available e-invoicing/e-filing tools used to support audits; additional tax revenue-generating reforms; and the emergence of a variety of opinions on how individual countries should approach the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting discussions.

Please enjoy this issue and, to learn more about the implications of each of these topics on your business, please contact our authors.