http://www.ciat.org/images/documents/boletines/eng/y2010n20

ISSN 1684-9833 • No.20 / December 17, 2010

Join the blog

The Executive Secretariat Informs The Executive Secretary visited the School of Finance Administration of Brazil

We invite you to CIATalk, the new space provided by CIAT. Read the posts, give your opinion and actively participate.

The Executive Secretariat Informs The Executive Secretary visited the School of Finance Administration of Brazil CIAT participated in initial sessions of the Fiscal Studies Center of Uruguay The Executive Secretary participated in International Seminar in Costa Rica Regional seminar organized by InWent, DIAN of Colombia and CIAT was successfully concluded The Tax Administrations Inform Brazil - South Korea’s Customs Office and the RFB hold meeting on Customs Cooperation .

On December 6, the Executive Secretary visited the School of Finance Administration – ESAF of Brazil, to follow up expansion of the Cooperation Agreement between ESAF and CIAT which should result in the establishment of a CIAT Regional Training Center at the school’s headquarters in Brasilia, Brazil.

In a joint cooperation effort between the Secretariat of Federal Revenues of Brazil, ESAF and CIAT this Center will allow for offering additional face-to-face and virtual courses in Portuguese, as well as increasing training activities offered

by CIAT to its member countries which may be held at the ESAF facilities.

It also contemplates the holding of international events, new essay contests and the offer by ESAF, of CIAT courses to Portuguese-speaking countries, especially from the African continent.

As a result of this cooperation agreement signed with CIAT, ESAF already offered a course on Tax Administration in 2009, as part of the Brazilian Development Program for Finance Officials to 177 officials from the Brazilian federal treasury. It consisted of 260 hours of distance training and 24 hours of face-to-face training. By late 2010, some other 242 officials will be concluding the same course, whose main focus is the integrated vision of fundamental processes for an efficient and effective tax administration.

Clombia: DIAN sets new TVU for 2011 Costa Rica: Tax on vehicle ownership decreases 5% Paraguay: There were over 2 million visits to the SET’s Web page this year Uruguay: DGI launches the “Taxpayer’s Charter” Uruguay: DGI participated in Electronic Government Meeting Events Publications ¡Our Documents...

Show in the picture: Mr. Mauro Sérgio Bogéa Soares, General Director of the School of Finance; Mr. João Dias Neto, Deputy General Director; Mrs. Ana Maria Ribeiro dos Reis, Deputy General Director; Mr. Márcio F. Vérdi, CIAT Executive Secretary and his team.

CIAT participated in initial sessions of the Fiscal Studies Center of Uruguay The initial sessions of the Fiscal Studies Center (CEF) were held on December 2 and 3, in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Center, an entity with juridical personality,

eCIAT

Newsletter

under the scope of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, created through Law N° 18362 of 10.06.2008, will be in charge of counseling, research, training and development in taxation and public finances.

CIAT is a public international organization which groups the tax administrations of 38 countries, (29 Amarican countries, 6 European countries, 2 African countries and one Asian country), for the purpose of providing an integral service for the modernization of those administrations, by promoting their evolution, social acceptance and consolidation through the exchange of knowledge, experiences and the rendering of specialized technical assistance.

Executive Council

Participating in these sessions were the Minister of Economy and Finance of Uruguay, Fernando Lorenzo, the Deputy General Director of Tax Studies of the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IEF) of Spain, Jesús Rodríguez Márquez and the CIAT Tax Studies and Research Manager, Miguel Pecho. There were also representatives from the local private and academic sectors.

Based on the presentations by the IEF and CIAT, the participants discussed CEF’s possible government and management schemes, the research and analysis priorities for improving fiscal and tax policy in Uruguay, the training needs of public officials and the possible alternatives for cooperation with the Center at the regional and international levels.

Executive Secretariat The e-CIAT Newsletter is published and distributed electronically biweekly.

Register

Contact us: CIAT Executive Secretariat / e-CIAT Newsletter P.O. Box 0834-02129 Panama, Republic of Panama.

Phone (507) 265-2766 / 265-5994 Fax: (507) 264-4926 E mail:ciat@ciat.org Web Site: http://www.ciat.org

From left to right: Miguel Pecho, Jesús Rodríguez Márquez y Nelson Hernández, former Director of the DGI of Uruguay.

Picture by courtesy of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uruguay.

The Executive Secretary participated in International Seminar in Costa Rica The Seminar on “Implementation and/or strengthening of the Tax Studies areas and International Taxation in the Tax Administrations” was held on November 24 and 25, 2010. This activity was organized by the Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic Regional Center for Technical Assistance (CAPTAC.DR) with the collaboration of the Ministry of Finance and General Directorate of Taxation of Costa Rica, the World Bank and the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT).

Participating in this important seminar held at the Boungainvillea Hotel in Santo Domingo de Heredia, were 32 high level officials from the Tax Administrations of the Central American countries and the Dominican Republic and international speakers of the highest professional quality and experience, among them, the CIAT Executive Secretary, Mr. Márcio F. Verdi, whose presentation dealt with the importance of the Tax Studies Areas in the Tax Administrations and the closeness of these areas to the General Directorate to which they must provide the information required for making appropriate decisions.

On the other hand, Mr. Enrique Rojas Hidalgo, CAPTAC-DR Tax Expert, discussed, among other issues, the key elements for the adequate functioning of the Tax Studies areas.

New Web Site: www.ciat.org

eCIAT

Newsletter

On the second day, Mr. Raúl Junquera Varela, Senior Specialist in Public Finances from the World Bank discussed Transfer Pricing, Information Exchange and Tax Transparency. Throughout the sessions valuable contributions were made by Oscar Vázquez, CAPTAC-DR current resident expert in tax administration and likewise there was opportunity for open discussions and the participation of all those present.

In addition, the representatives of the different Tax Administrations showed the level of progress, structure, functions and works carried out in their respective tax studies units, as well as in relation to the control of transfer pricing and information exchange agreements.

Shown above are international speakers, Marcio F. Verdi, Enrique Rojas, Raúl Junquera, Oscar Vásquez and other participants in the seminar.

Shown in this picture are the representatives of the international delegations.

Regional seminar organized by InWent, DIAN of Colombia and CIAT was successfully concluded The Regional Seminar on “Taxation of Large Businesses – Transfer Pricing was held in Bogota, Colombia, on November 23-25, 2010, with the participation of tax administration officials from Latin America, representatives of multinational businesses and tax advisers.

This is an annual activity that is being carried out with InWent’s financing since 2008, for discussing taxation of large businesses.

The participants on this occasion were independent consultants, representatives from the tax administrations of Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, as well as from the Colombian-German Chamber of Industries, GTZ, KPMG, Morison Consulting, InWent and CIAT. The high level technical discussions resulted in valuable conclusions.

On the last day, within the sphere of working groups coordinated by InWent and CIAT, a procedure was discussed for carrying out an effective transfer pricing audit, which hereinafter shall take place in a virtual space proposed by InWent.

All the documents presented in this Seminar may be accessed and downloaded at the CIAT Library, following registration in MyCIAT. New Web Site: www.ciat.org

eCIAT

Newsletter

The Tax Administrations Inform Brazil - South Korea’s Customs Office and the RFB hold meeting on Customs Cooperation .

On November 24, the Deputy Secretary of Customs and International Relations of the Secretariat of Federal Revenues of Brazil, Tax Auditor Fausto Vieira Coutinho, met with South Korea’s delegation headed by the General Director of Customs, Mr. Yungsun Yoon, in the first Customs Cooperation Meeting between the Customs Service of Korea (KCS) and the Secretariat of Federal Revenues of Brazil (RFB).

The Korean representative, Mr Yungsun Yoon expressed his interest in the technical cooperation which the RFB can provide in the area of the Authorized Economic Operator - AEO, security and trade facilitation program, as well as in entering into the customs administrative mutual assistance agreement starting in 2011. Such interest was materialized in a protocol of intentions signed by the representatives of the RFB and KCS. The following day, the KCS delegation went to Santos/São Paulo, to visit the Customs Office in the Port of Santos, where they were met by the Unit Inspector, Tax Auditor, José Antonio Gaeta Mendes.

Worth noting is the courtesy afforded by the Inspector of the International Airport of São Paulo/Guarulhos, Tax Auditor Edison Jorge Takeshi Kanedo, it being essential for the success of the visit, from the time of arrival until their departure from the country.

Marcos Aurelio Valadao Correspondent

Clombia: DIAN sets new TVU for 2011 The Directorate of National Taxes and Customs, DIAN, through resolution 012066 of November 19, 2010, set the amount of the Tax Value Unit (TVU) for 2011, at twenty five thousand one hundred thirty two Pesos ($25.132).

This amount resulted from applying to the current TVU, the consumer price index’s cumulative variation for medium revenues between October 1st, 2009 and October 1st, 2010, which was 2.35% Lidia Chaparro Manosalva Correspondent

Costa Rica: Tax on vehicle ownership decreases 5% The Ministry of Finance announced today that the tax on vehicle ownership will have a 5% reduction with respect to the previous year. This reduction is the result of the combination of three variables, which according to the legislation in force, must be taken into consideration every year when estimating the tax payable.

Maribel Zúñiga Cambronero Correspondentl

Paraguay: There were over 2 million visits to the SET’s Web page this year The State Undersecretariat of Taxation (SET) endeavors to expand the use of information technology as a means of facilitating procedures to the taxpayers, due to the ease and speediness afforded by the technology.

New Web Site: www.ciat.org

eCIAT

Newsletter

The Web page of the State Undersecretariat of Taxation (SET) of the Ministry of Finance was visited a total of 2.016.629 between January and October of the current year, thus becoming one of the most visited in the public sector.

Elizabeth Fernández de Corrales Correspondentsal

Uruguay: DGI launches the “Taxpayer’s Charter” The taxpayer’s charter was presented at the closing of the III Tax Meetings, by the Minister of Economy and Finance of Uruguay, Mr. Fernando Lorenzo.

The document, which is available in the DGI’s Web, covers the international experience on the subject and is based on international treaties, constitutional rules, laws and decrees. It is an institutional commitment to society and will serve as guide to all officials.

“This is an area of special concern since the DGI relates with the citizens and the latter are guided by their rights and obligations”, the Minister said. He also announced that in the next few days, “a bill will be sent to Parliament covering a series of tax regulations which the taxpayers have been expecting for a long time. “.

On his part, the General Director of Income, Mr. Pablo Ferreri, noted “that it arose as an initiative of the Tax Administration, and in the process of development the private and academic sectors contributed ideas. This charter is not the DGI’s sole truth; rather it was the result of a sound debate between taxpayer representatives and academic experts”.

Margarita Faral Correspondent

Uruguay: DGI participated in Electronic Government Meeting The DGI of Uruguay participated in this third version of the meeting whose purpose is to disseminate progress achieved in this sphere, as well as to allow for interaction.

The meeting held on November 30 and December 1st, 2010, was intended to disseminate the different e-Government projects and strategies; allow the opportunity for the exchange of experiences and networking among the State entities; allow the participation of suppliers and learning institutions; promote the active participation of Government entities, in addition to sharing success stories and specific results of e-Government projects.

The event was organized by AGESIC “Agency for the Development of the Government’s Electronic Management and the Information and Knowledge Society “. This entity is dependent on the Presidency of the Republic and its purpose is to improve citizen services, through the possibilities afforded by Information and Communication Technologies. (ICTs).

The presentations and workshops held during the meeting covered several topics, among them, Web Accessibility, conceptual aspects of PMO, Electronic Government Platform, REDuy, Web Use and Contents.

Margarita Faral Correspondent

New Web Site: www.ciat.org

eCIAT

Newsletter

Events Latin America and Caribbean –European Union Forum

Environmentally sustainable tax policy and economy within the context of climate change November, 2010. Berlin

The Latin America and Caribbean – European Union Forum on environmentally sustainable tax policy and economy within the context of climate change was held on November 10 and 11 in Berlin. Participants in this event included individuals responsible for making decisions regarding policy, the economy and civil society from Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the European Union (EU), gathered to exchange viewpoints on tax policy objectives and instruments and their relationships with challenges regarding climate change and an environmentally sustainable economy.

Publications New in the Web CIAT/AEAT/IEF Tax Administration Review December, 2010 . No.30

This new edition of the CIAT/AEAT/IEF Tax Administration Review includes articles that discuss local taxation issues of several Latin American, such as tax decentralization, environmental taxes, actual tax burdens on in the industry and tax control, as well as others dealing with international taxation control issues.

CIAT Thematic Tax Series December, 2010 . No.6

This thematic series includes Tax Compliance in its No. 6 edition. The material gathered includes studies and papers prepared by technical officials for pre¬sentation either at the General Assemblies or Technical Conferences,.

Other documents Currency Wars Yesterday and Today

Milan Brahmbhatt, Otaviano Canuto, and Swati Ghoshw Economic Premise The World Bank December, 2010. No43

An energetic debate on the danger of a global currency war has flared up in recent months, stoked by a renewed move to “quantitative easing” in the United States, resurgent capital flows to developing countries and strong upward pressure on emerging market currencies. This Economic Premise reviews some of the arguments and concludes that the current U.S. monetary easing is a useful insurance policy against the risk of global deflation.

Personalized VAT. Increasing Collection and Compensating the Poor Alberto Barreix, Martín Bes, Jerónimo Roca July, 2010

This document analyzes the role of Value Added Tax in a modern tax system, as well as alternatives for increasing collection while mitigating the regressive impact of this tax. A proposal is made for generalizing the tax base, compensated with a transfer to the poorest deciles of the population.

New Web Site: www.ciat.org

eCIAT

Newsletter

ยกOur Documents...

Bibliographic News November, 2010

This document provides for reference purposes, the most recent documents produced by CIAT and other editorials in the month of November; either articles or other periodic publications, research works and studies of interest.

New Web Site: www.ciat.org