On June 4 and 5, 2025, the 12th Meeting of the Latin America Initiative took place in Salvador do Bahia, under the auspices of the Special Secretariat da Receita do Brasil. High-level representatives of tax administrations and ministries of finance of Latin American countries and partners of the initiative attended this event, including the Inter-American Development Bank, the Institute of Fiscal Studies of Spain, and CIAT.

CIAT had the opportunity to comment on the results of the Report on Fiscal Transparency in Latin America 2025, highlighting the challenges faced by countries in incorporating transparency standards and mutual assistance practices; and the importance of incorporating these practices into the fundamental processes and sub-processes of tax administrations, in order to achieve maximum use of information and cooperation mechanisms. The CIAT Executive Secretariat also presented the actions conducted and planned to support its member countries in the area of transparency and information exchange, highlighting, in addition to the upcoming seminars and workshops, the Distance Course on Information Exchange, the Initiative on Access to Open Sources of Information (DPI), Section 5.3 of the International Tax Planning Control Manual, and other documents to ensure the quality and security of information: Data Governance for Tax Administrations. And the Guide for the Protection and Ethical Use of Information Held by the Tax Administrations

Among the main developments discussed at the meeting were Bolivia’s accession to the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, and the following advances and impacts achieved by Latin American countries:

1. Between 2009 and 2024, Tax administrations collected additional revenues of 28.4 billion Euros in the region, identified through information sharing practices.
2. In 2025, they generated additional revenues of 585 million Euros, identified through information sharing practices.
3. Between 2019 and 2024, requests for information will grow 653%.
4. Between 2019 and 2024, information requests generated based on the CRS increased from 69 to 320.
5. In 2024, thanks to CRS, Latin American countries received information on 4.2 million financial accounts, equivalent to 986 billion Euros.
6. Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica signed in 2024 the Competent Authorities Agreement to adopt the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF).
7. Six countries signed in 2024 the Agreement of Competent Authorities on Wider Use of Exchanged Information.
8. The CIAT Executive Secretariat congratulates the authorities of the Special Secretariat of the Receita do Brasil and the Global Forum for the success of the meeting and expresses its commitment to promote the development of transparency and international tax cooperation.

The CIAT Executive Secretariat congratulates the authorities of the Special Secretariat da Receita do Brasil and the Global Forum for the success of the meeting and expresses its commitment to promote the development of transparency and international tax cooperation.