The technical conference of the Inter-American Center for Tax Administrations (CIAT) began today in Quito with a proposal for international cooperation and exchange of information at the global level to implement more effective supervision of global and digital business. At least that was one of the suggestions made by the Director of Revenue, Francisco Briones, during the inauguration of the event that takes place between October 25 and 27 at the Go Hotel in Quito.

According to SRI, this event brings together tax administrations from more than 35 countries around the world for the purpose of technical, collaborative and institutional strengthening for more efficient and effective taxation. And what is wanted on this occasion is a discussion on the best practices for reducing tax evasion in the framework of international taxation.

During the opening speech, Briones highlighted efforts to fight tax evasion, and emphasized that last year Ecuador regulated 1.8 billion dollars of assets abroad, however, “it is estimated that the real figure is ten times higher”, he indicated.

But Briones also made another announcement: as part of its own actions, the SRI, at the behest of President Guillermo Lasso, created the Tax Justice Act, aimed at combating evasion by individuals and companies, in order to recover the tax that will restore the state’s ability to meet social needs such as education, health, infrastructure and security.

He noted that the Tax Justice Act can no longer be approved in the current mandate and will remain as a legacy to be processed by the government of newly elected President Daniel Noboa. “For this reason, in the transition process with the new government and its tax authorities, we will submit a bill that includes international taxation for a real fight against evasion,” he pointed out.

The event was also attended by the President of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT), Margarita Faral, and Marcio Verdi, Executive Secretary of CIAT.

The latter highlighted the efforts of the CIAT countries in the fight against tax evasion, with the main goal of increasing revenues for their fiscal sustainability.

The first day of the meeting was focused on the analysis of experiences in the implementation of BEPS (base erosion and profit shifting) measures, with a presentation by Andrea Lemgruber, head of the department of the IMF’s Fiscal Revenue Directorate; This will be followed by working sessions, open discussions and question forums.

This Thursday, on the other hand, digital companies and how to properly collect taxes will be discussed. On Friday, the exchange of information on financial accounts and other assets will be discussed.

Among the delegations of CIAT member countries are Brazil, Panama, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Canada and the USA.