Bank Debit Taxes in Latin America: An Analysis of Recent Trends

Isaias Coelho, Victoria Perry and Liam Ebrill

No 2001/067, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: Six Latin American countries have levied taxes on withdrawals from bank accounts, which have been viewed as a convenient tax handle during a difficult fiscal period. The paper reviews the arguments for and against this type of taxation, describes the taxes, and surveys their revenue performance and economic impact. It concludes that the recently implemented taxes have been successful in raising revenue in the short term, but that adverse allocational impacts have likely been significant. The tax may work better in times of fiscal crisis, when financial intermediation is deep, and when the tax rate is modest.

Keywords: WP; bank debit tax; tax; bank; debit; transaction; Financial transactions taxes; bank debit taxes; Argentina; Brazil; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru; Venezuela; turnover taxes cascade; type tax; tax measure; distorting tax; tax enforcement; debit taxes in Latin America; bank debit type tax; case of bank debit tax; debit tax; Argentinean tax; Ecuadorian tax; Bank levy; Income and capital gains taxes; Financial transaction tax; Stock markets; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33
Date: 2001-05-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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