A new tax technology: the Brazilian experience with a general bank transactions tax

Abstract

This is a statement paper about tax reform. It tries to point to new trends in the world economy and to its consequences for tax practitioners’, taxpayers and tax administrators. Its main conclusion is that the world needs a new tax technology, and based on the Brazilian experience, proposes that a bank transaction tax may fulfill this need. Especially in developing countries tax reform has been one of the most intensely debated topics around the world. The significance of this issue can be easily understood as developing economies, lacking strong fiscal traditions, emerge as important participants in a renovated world. Old paradigms are being constantly challenged by these new players. At the same time, their growing demand for resources necessary to meet the expectations placed on their public sector makes tax reform a crucial issue in attempting to maintain the tendency towards economic relevance which many developing countries around the world have been fiercely attempting to achieve. In Brazil, particularly, tax reform it is one of the most important items in a list of pressing domestic issues.