Revenue sharing: The case of Brazil's ICMS

The ICMS represents the most important source of revenue for the Brazilian states and one of the most important taxes in Brazil. Unlike other VATs in the world, the ICMS is not collected by the central government. The ICMS is collected by the states (the intermediate level of government), which are able to fix the internal rates; a situation that reflects the fiscal autonomy of the different levels of government in Brazil. Similarly, the direct and unconditional transfers of 25% of the ICMS collection to the municipalities (the local level) show the high degree of autonomy at the sub–national …

Tax structure and tax evasion in Latin America

When studying tax issues in Latin America, along with any regional perspective, individual country differences must be taken into account. Despite this regional diversity, the tax systems of the vast majority of Latin America's countries share certain key characteristics: the composition of their tax structures; the technical, economic, political and administrative constraints they face; current trends in tax policy and administration; and a high estimated level of tax evasion. Today's globalized world calls for the need to align tax policies and administrations with those used in ot…

Policy Brief: Evidence based policy-making in the Caribbean

There is much advocacy in the Caribbean regarding the need for evidence-based policy making, that is – policy making that is based on timely and reliable data regarding a particular economic and/or social problem, to promote good governance and facilitate enhanced policy and programme outcomes. However, the reality remains an elusive one for many Caribbean policy makers, who implement policies based on ideas, as well as ad hoc or outdated data. Outside of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America are countries where polic…

Region's Governmental Authorities Stress the Relevance of ECLAC's Structural Change Proposal

(30 August 2012) Today, authorities and experts stressed the relevance in this global economic crisis of the structural change for equality that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is proposing to the region as part of its thirty-fourth session being held from Monday 27 to Friday 31 August in El Salvador. On the fourth day of ECLAC's most important biennial meeting, Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, presented the main proposals from the latest institutional document entitled Structural change for equality: An integrated approach to development, which outlines…

Brazil to Host Meeting of the Regional Council for Planning in 2012

(28 March 2012) On 23 March concluded the four-day visit of the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. During her visit, Bárcena met with high-level authorities of the Government of Brazil, with whom she discussed ECLAC's activities in the region (especially in Brazil), signed agreements and programmed future joint actions with Brazilian institutions. Alicia Bárcena and ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary, Antonio Prado, held substantive meetings with ministers of Foreign Affairs; Planning, Bu…

Brasil será sede de reunión del Consejo Regional de Planificación de la CEPAL en 2012

(28 de marzo, 2012) La Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), Alicia Bárcena, culminó el viernes 23 de marzo una visita de cuatro días a Brasilia, capital de Brasil, en donde se entrevistó con altas autoridades del gobierno de ese país con quienes comentó sobre las actividades de la CEPAL en la región, particularmente en Brasil, firmó acuerdos y programó futuras acciones conjuntas con las instituciones brasileñas. Alicia Bárcena y el Secretario Ejecutivo Adjunto de la CEPAL, Antonio Prado, mantuvieron reuniones sustantivas con l…

Employing knowledge networks as tools for the development of Caribbean Small Island Developing States

Expertise, skills, experiences, understandings and capabilities (knowledge) aid development, not just by informing decision-making, but also by providing ideas for actions and activities that can be taken. Due to their size, and economic and environmental vulnerabilities, Caribbean Small Island developing States (SIDS) faces special challenges when working towards their economic, social and environmental development goals. These challenges have contributed to the creation of knowledge gaps, and that which is already available is located in isolated pockets, throughout the Caribbean. Migration …

Visita de María Otero, Subsecretaria de Estado de los Estados Unidos para la Seguridad Civil, la Democracia y los Derechos Humanos