On January 11, 2017, the Internal Taxes General Directorate of El Salvador received at their headquarters officers of the Executive Secretariat of the CIAT, in order to discuss the progress of the projects that are implemented from September 2015 within the framework of the SECO-CIAT Cooperation Program, focused on the exchange of tax information and extensive control.

The mission has produced significant achievements. In the field of the exchange of information, a specialized unit has been created as well as processes to develop the information exchange in various forms. A strategy and the negotiation of instruments that allow the exchange of information has been elaborated. All of this has enabled El Salvador to obtain the qualification of “widely compliant” before the Global Forum of OECD on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. In the operational field, so far, information requirements have been taught, which have resulted in the determination of adjustments and penalties in favor of El Salvador. During the next phase of the program, we expect to consolidate further the Exchange of Information Unit, as well as other relevant aspects of access to information, to lay the groundwork for the “automatic” mode of exchange.

The second project was the valuable institutional collaboration of SUNAT of Peru, which made a team of experts in mass controls available to the program. Based on the Peruvian experience, it was possible to implement a risk matrix for the VAT and the Income Tax. Also, model tests were performed, which allowed identifying 25 cases of risk, giving effective confirmation results for the selection hypothesis in 21 cases of 25 identified. These results originating from tests generate high expectations for the next stage of the project, where the model will be implemented for all taxpayers and taxes covered.

CIAT is grateful for the support that SECO is providing to its member countries through the Executive Secretariat and highlights the tax administration of El Salvador’s commitment to continue capitalizing on this support.

From left to right: Ramon Perez (Deputy Tax Director), Gonzalo Arias (Director of Cooperation and International Taxation), Sergio Gomez (Director General of DGII), Luis Fernando Díaz (Management Advisor).

From left to right: Gonzalo Arias (Director of Cooperation and International Taxation), Carlos Calderón (Information Exchange Section), Xenia García (Head of the Information Exchange Agreements Section), Sandra Dorral (Legal Department).

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