The member countries of the Framework Convention for the Control of Tobacco have approved raising taxes on the tobacco industry.
This new document seeks to "... strengthen measures relating to applicable taxes and prices in order to reduce consumption and the number of deaths from consumption of tobacco, as it is closely related to the cost of the product."
And apparently for bureaucracies in general, including those of international organizations; an "expert" from the Inter-American Development Bank is supporting tax reform in Costa Rica.
Although officially the IDB "does not advocate a tax burden or specific tax policy," one of its officials warmly supports the project to increase the tax burden to support the Costa Rican economy, to the point of suggesting that the tax burden be similar to Argentina’s.
Governments should control tax evasion, expand the tax base and combat corruption, increasing revenue to finance the fight against insecurity.
A statement by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Central America (FECAMCO) reads:
THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUG TRAFFICKING AND SOCIAL VIOLENCE DOES NOT SOLEY DEPEND ON MORE TAXES
The social costs that violence and organized crime bring are embodied in several dimensions, among which is the irreparable loss of lives, physical and emotional toll of victims and the costs related to private security in homes or businesses. The current violence that Central America is experiencing has significantly impacted on companies' productivity and has therefore hindered the economic growth of our countries. We therefore condemn all kinds of populist measures that directly affect productivity, competitiveness and economic growth in the region.
In El Salvador, the debate over the advantages and disadvantages of dollarization has been reignited, as the government is in need of resources for funding its programs.
President Funes has regretted that Dollarization has limited El Salvador from taking actions to combat the economic crisis. However, Augusto De la Torre, chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, repeated that dollarization is not an obstacle, and that in the case of Panama and El Salvador it has been key to relieve them from external pressures and exchange rate volatility.
2010 will be a difficult year for the region's Treasuries, and tax reforms will be one of the weapons used by governments to fight this crisis.
Nicaragua has recently passed a highly controversial fiscal reform. Panama approved tax hikes for companies in the Colón Free Zone, as well as tobacco, casinos and insurance companies. In Guatemala the government proposed a tax reform to increase the tax burden, which includes raising income tax from 5% to 6% and taxing mobile communications. The Salvadoran government intends to raise taxes to alcoholic beverages, tobacco, weapons and ammunition, as well as vehicle registration and commissions at insurance companies.
"If we want first-world services, we must pay first-world taxes" - Laura Chinchilla.
The tax burden in Central America hovers between Guatemala's 9.9% and Nicaragua's 17%. In Brazil its 29%, whereas Scandinavian countries have tax burdens around 40%.
Tax collection has been hardly hit by the economic crisis, making evident the need for fiscal reforms to solve the structural problems of the region's tax systems.