Sunat: Evasion and tax avoidance in Peru amounts to S/ 33,000 million annually

The National Superintendence of Customs and Tax Administration (Sunat) reported that tax evasion and avoidance in the country amounts to S/ 33,000 million each year, which represents 4.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to Palmer de la Cruz, national manager of Strategies and Risks at Sunat, this figure was largely driven by new ways of doing business, the lack of information on transactions in other countries and gaps in international regulations.

“We did not know more about financial services and movements. And that generated an environment of possibilities of erosion of the tax base; that is, the decrease in income declared before the tax administrations and therefore less tax payment, the possibility of transferring the profits generated by companies to countries with lower taxation and unduly having tax benefits due to the lack of tax uniformity”, he explained. the official.

Therefore, in line with the approach to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Peru has met standards and has been able to access new international information since 2021.

Thus, Sunat’s relationship with the OECD is based on two objectives. One of them is to seek transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.

“Achieving OECD standards by Sunat allows it not only to share information with other countries but also to receive from other countries. Therefore, it allows you to know the transactions that were complex to make visible regarding Peruvian citizens and companies that carry out abroad. Financial and tax-type information,” said De la Cruz.

Meanwhile, the official explained that the second axis by which Sunat obtains benefits is because it agrees to know in detail and discuss, as an active part of the OECD, about what are the measures that would prevent the erosion of the tax base. “That is, the decrease in declared income, improper taxes or transfer of profits to countries with lower tax rates such as tax havens, or now called non-cooperative countries or countries with low or no taxation,” he concluded.