Tax Morale and Tax Evasion in Latin American Countries

James Alm () and Jorge Martinez-Vazquez ()

International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU from International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University

Abstract: It is hard for tax administrations to levy and collect taxes anywhere and anytime. However, taxing certain kinds of activities, sectors, or individuals – the so-called “informal sector” – is an additional challenge for tax administrations in both developing and developed countries, and the “fiscal gap” that arises from the failure to tax this sector can be quite large. This issue is especially pressing in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries, where often over half of the workforce is found in the informal sector. In this paper we examine taxation and tax compliance in LAC countries – and beyond – focusing on several main questions. What is meant by the “informal sector”? What is the size of informal sector in LAC countries? What are some effects from an informal sector, including the size of the “fiscal gap”? What are the reasons for this fiscal gap? What can be done to address these various issues?

Keywords: Tax Morale; Tax Evasion; Tax compliance; Latin American Countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 84 pages
Date: 2007-12-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Downloads: (external link)
http://icepp.gsu.edu/files/2015/03/ispwp0732.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0732

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU from International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Paul Benson ().