The 8th meeting of the Network of Tax Studies and Research Areas of the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT) was held in Panama City, Panama, on March 27 and 28, 2023. The event was sponsored by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). CIAT Executive Secretary, Marcio Ferreira Verdi, was in charge of the opening remarks of this activity.

The main subject of this 8th meeting was “Challenges and opportunities for tax administrations after the COVID-19 crisis”. In particular, discussions were held around digital innovations in tax administration (electronic invoicing, electronic filing, pre-filled tax returns, mobile payments, e-mail boxes, e-services, big data, etc. ); tax initiatives of digital businesses; tax revenue developments in LAC (equivalent fiscal pressure update; short-term developments after the COVID-19 crisis); tax expenditure database update; tax gap measurements in LAC; and recent changes in tax legislation (2022).

Twenty-three presentations were made at the meeting, which were discussed by the 50 participants, including representatives from 18 countries and their respective tax administrations.

Likewise, Network initiatives, developed with the support of NORAD and the tax administrations of CIAT member countries, were presented. Among them, the following stand out: the new Equivalent Fiscal Pressure database, the monthly follow-up of tax revenues after the COVID-19 crisis, the update of the tax expenditure Database, the estimates of the VAT and Income Tax fiscal gap, the updated summary of tax legislation in Latin America and the Caribbean, the use of ISORA to prepare the INDITEC (index of innovation, digitalization and technology in the Tax Administrations) or the analysis of the simplified systems for the taxation of small taxpayers.

In order to follow up on the work presented at the Network Meeting, disseminate best practices and generate cooperation among peers, a book will soon be published with a summary of the work carried out by the CIAT member countries’ tax administration study areas.

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