Guatemala
There are numerous experiences of contracting out in the health sector throughout the developing world as well as in post-conflict and fragile states. The health sector has provided leadership at the global level of government contracting out services to the non-government sector, and is an excellent starting point for fragile states in the process of rebuilding their country’s infrastructure and work force and regaining the confidence of their citizens.
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes is the multilateral framework within which work in the area of tax transparency and exchange of information is carried out by over 100 jurisdictions which participate in the work of the Global Forum on an equal footing.
The Global Forum is charged with in-depth monitoring and peer review of the implementation of the standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. These standards are primarily reflected in the 2002 OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of Information on Tax Matters and its commentary, and in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and its commentary as updated in 2004, which has been incorporated in the UN Model Tax Convention.
The standards provide for international exchange on request of foreseeably relevant information for the administration or enforcement of the domestic tax laws of a requesting party. “Fishing expeditions” are not authorised, but all foreseeably relevant information must be provided, including bank information and information held by fiduciaries, regardless of the existence of a domestic tax interest or the application of a dual criminality standard.
All members of the Global Forum, as well as jurisdictions identified by the Global Forum as relevant to its work, are being reviewed. This process is undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 reviews assess the quality of a jurisdiction’s legal and regulatory framework for the exchange of information, while Phase 2 reviews look at the practical implementation of that framework. Some Global Forum members are undergoing combined – Phase 1 plus Phase 2 – reviews. The ultimate goal is to help jurisdictions to effectively implement the international standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.
All review reports are published once approved by the Global Forum and they thus represent agreed Global Forum reports.
This chapter presents Guatemala’s taxpayer education programme. It first gives an overview of the whole programme and its objectives, followed by a focus on one specific element, the Citizen Culture Festival “Strength Lies in Numbers”. It finally looks at the impacts and lessons learnt of the initiative.
Ce chapitre présente le programme d'éducation des contribuables du Guatemala. Il décrit d'abord les objectifs généraux du programme, suivi d’un point sur un élément spécifique, « la force est dans les nombres ». Il examine par la suite l'impact et les leçons à tirer de l'initiative, suivie par un aperçu des prochaines étapes.
El presente capítulo analiza el Programa de Educación Cívico-Tributaria de Guatemala. Para ello, comienza haciendo un recorrido completo por el programa y sus objetivos, y continúa centrándose en un elemento en concreto: El Festival de Cultura Ciudadana «La fuerza reside en las cifras». Por último, aporta una reflexión sobre el impacto y las enseñanzas extraídas como fruto de la iniciativa.