AS per OECD latest data, tax revenues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) dipped in 2016, falling further behind average OECD country levels, but a recovery is likely in subsequent years. The average tax-to-GDP ratio stood at 22.7% in 2016, a fall of 0.3 percentage points since 2015, the report says.

The 2016 decrease reflects the overall economic environment in the LAC region, where GDP growth slowed between 2012 and 2016. Declining commodity prices partly drove this downturn and remain a key determinant of revenue trends in LAC countries. The decline in tax revenue as a percentage of GDP is expected to reverse in subsequent years thanks to a recovery in commodity prices and an improving economic climate, with GDP growth in LAC forecast to be between 2% and 2.5% in 2018.

Launched during the 30th Regional Seminar on Fiscal Policy in Santiago, the report covers 25 LAC countries and includes Guyana for the first time. It is produced jointly by the Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations (CIAT), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Centre for Tax Policy and Administration and the OECD Development Centre.