Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2026: strengthening tax systems to finance more productive, inclusive and sustainable development
Work area(s)
Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2026: strengthening tax systems to finance more productive, inclusive and sustainable development
- Publication type: Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean
- Publication corporate author (Institutional author): NU. CEPAL
- Physical description: 109 pages
- Publisher: ECLAC
- UN symbol (Signature): LC/PUB.2026/4-P
- Date: May, 2026
- ISBN: 9789211596878
Abstract
The 2026 edition of the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean analyses the main trends in public revenues and spending, fiscal balances, public debt and subnational finances in the region in 2025. Given the heightened uncertainty over the last year and limited fiscal space, countries are faced with the need to strengthen their tax systems in order to finance their public spending and investment policies in a context of persistent fiscal deficits and high indebtedness. Against this backdrop, this year’s Fiscal Panorama includes a study of personal income tax non-compliance in five countries of the region, highlighting a set of recent strategies to improve tax collection. It also includes a novel methodology for examining tax expenditures for social objectives in 12 Latin American countries, emphasizing the importance of evaluating these instruments to ensure their effectiveness. The report highlights, as a cross-cutting message, the need to strengthen institutional capacities to support fiscal policies that foster more productive, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the region.