Taxation and Inequality in Latin America

José Antonio Ocampo, Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean: Tax reform is one of the most pressing issues in contemporary Latin America, a region historically plagued by excessive inequality, high dependence on natural resource exploitation and unacceptable levels of tax evasion. This edited volume provides an excellent examination of the implications of fiscal policy on the raw material sector and the way to design adequate tax policies to manage it. Claudia Sanhueza Riveros, Undersecretary of Finance in the Chilean Ministry of Finance: Tax systems should reflect social preferences for redistribution, and while the vast majority of people in Latin America believe that inequalities are unfair, our tax systems and social services do not do enough to address these social and economic inequalities. This book offers a vision from political economy to analyze the relationship between natural resource wealth, allocational politics, and the limited role of tax regimes for redistribution and progressive resource mobilization. A piece of knowledge that will help to understand the current status quo and identify tools to move forward. Abdul Muheet Chowdhary, Senior Programme Officer of the South Centre Tax Initiative, SOUTHVIEWS: The volume Taxation and Inequality in Latin America: New Perspectives on Political Economy and Tax Regimes is an insightful collection of articles about the patterns of inequality in Latin America and detailing the nature of tax avoidance and evasion in the region, with lessons from political attempts to bring about progressive reforms and tax considerations for policymakers about the future of the region’s development.