EUROsociAL accompanies the creation of the Tax Intelligence Unit in Guatemala

During the week of 16th–20th June, the Guatemalan Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT) received expert advising from the Finance Guard, a department in the Italian Tax Agency, to contribute to outlining the responsibilities and operations of the Tax Intelligence Unit.

In the course of the advising action, the Guatemalan SAT team presented the operative model and diagram to be used for planning its tax intelligence activities, and the functions that this unit would be responsible for. For its part, the expert from the Finance Guard shared the Italian experience, explaining how it operates in the intelligence cycle within the tax agency, defining its role in each administrative area, the functional structure of the unit, and the profiles of the staff involved. Likewise, it made a series of recommendations, such as internal training for the entire staff in order to create an institutional culture that will promote better decision-making by the authorities, including improvement of internal processes and eventual proposals for reforming tax laws.

This activity arose as a result of the request submitted by Guatemala to the EUROsociAL II Programme within the framework of the “Voluntary Compliance with Tax Obligations” Action of the “Public Finance Area”, coordinated by the FIIAPP, whose operational partners are the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT), the Spanish Institute of Tax Studies (IEF) and the Inter-American Centre for Tax Administrations (CIAT).

Going forward, the CIAT, which managed this activity, will monitor the progress, needs and interests derived from this advising action, jointly with the partners from the EUROsociAL II Programme, in order to advance in the area of new support activities for voluntary compliance with tax obligations.