Mutual trust between taxpayers and tax collectors is the basis of the Cooperative Compliance Program (PCC), and the challenges and opportunities for its implementation in the region, especially in Ecuador, were analyzed and discussed at an international forum that was held this Tuesday. , September 26, in Guayaquil.

Tax administrations, along with Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil and Panama, among others, participated in the event opened by the Deputy Director General of the Tax Administration (SRI) Ricardo Flores and the representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Juan Carlos de la Hoz.

The region’s tax administrations will participate in a cooperative compliance forum in Guayaquil

The basis of the program is mutual trust between taxpayers and SRI, which requires checking the taxpayer’s fiscal control framework to create “justified trust”, the institution said.

“Cooperative compliance is the vision of the tax administration that we in this administration wanted to promote. When we came to the tax administration, more than a year ago, headed by Francisco Briones, the general director, our goal was always to fight against evasion, but also to create a relationship of cooperation with taxpayers Change this vision of fiscal fear of the IRS for a new vision where taxpayers can feel that the tax vision is a strategic ally,” Flores said in his inaugural speech.

For his part, De la Hoz emphasized the importance of learning from tax entities in other countries, because they allow us to bring the best experiences and also “sometimes show what can be done and what all the possibilities are”.

Likewise, he indicated that the intervention of international guests will allow us to achieve two goals that are very important, “especially in times of turbulence and fiscal restrictions”: facilitating tax compliance for large companies and improving the investment climate in Ecuador.

“Cooperative compliance changes the traditional approach of persecution and mistrust that exists between tax administrations and replaces it with another, partnership based on transparency and mutual trust,” the IDB representative pointed out.

In the first block of the forum, they dealt with the structural elements of cooperative compliance, the legal framework of central counterparties, the scope of application, transparency of the tax administration and risk perception. The following were in charge of these topics: Ubaldo Gonzalez (IDB); Alejandro Juárez (CIAT); Alexis Carrera (Ernst & Young); Jorge Martin Girola (Deloitte Spain) and Cristina Trujillo (Colegio Contadores de Pichincha and Ecuador).

The experiences of PCC implementation were discussed by: Fransheska López (Panama); Carlos Rojas (Peru); María Gabriela Retana (Costa Rica); Flávio Vilela Campos (Brazil); Christian Soto (Chile); and a representative of Telefónica de España.

They then discussed the need to build a solid framework of fiscal control that enables proper verification by tax administrations. Participants: José Tostes (IDB); Mauro Tejada (national director of SRI of large taxpayers); Gabriela Larreátegui (former member of the assembly); and Marco Rodríguez (Executive President of Asobanco).

SRI control operations in August resulted in the seizure of goods worth more than USD 270,000

While discussing tax compliance in private sector operations, the role of tax advisors, as well as the expectations of the private sector and society regarding CCPs, the following spoke: María del Consuelo Naranjo (IDB); Carmen Simone (Pérez Bustamante Ponce -PBP-); Elena Herrera (Pronaca); and Juan Carlos Mogrovejo (Andean University Simón Bolívar).

The needs of large taxpayers, such as the reduction of litigation, the business climate and fast service and clarity, were discussed by: Jorge Ayala (tax advisor); Napoleón Santamaría (tax advisor); and Erick Blum (National Customs Service of Ecuador).

Finally, Monica Calijuri (IDB) analyzed the research plan for a possible regional cooperative compliance program.