Financial disincentives to formal employment and tax-benefit systems in Latin America

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a comprehensive assessment of the financial disincentives to enter formal employment implied by the design of the tax-benefit system in five Latin American countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Then, it analyzes the extent to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International tax and public finance 2023-02, Vol.30 (1), p.69-113
Main Authors: Jara, H. Xavier, Deza Delgado, María Cecilia, Oliva, Nicolás, Torres, Javier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business Taxation/Tax Law
Disincentives
Donations
Economic development
Economics
Economics and Finance
Employment
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Income taxes
Informal economy
International taxation
Labor force
Labor market
Per capita
Personal income
Public Finance
Self employment
Social security
Tax benefits
Tax rates
Tax revenues
Taxation
Workers
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Summary:The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a comprehensive assessment of the financial disincentives to enter formal employment implied by the design of the tax-benefit system in five Latin American countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Then, it analyzes the extent to which formalizing informal workers would contribute to increase fiscal capacity in the region. The results show a wide variation in financial disincentives to enter formal employment, with formalization tax rates ranging between 8.5 percent in Venezuela and 42 percent in Colombia. Formalization tax rates are particularly high for self-employed informal workers, and mainly driven by the high costs associated with social insurance contributions. The analysis further shows that potential entries to formal employment would raise tax revenue in all countries, but mainly through the effect of increased social insurance contributions, whereas personal income tax revenue would have a marginal contribution, except in Bolivia and Venezuela. Interestingly, potential formalization of informal workers with the highest probability of being formal would allow capturing a substantial share of the additional tax revenue lost due to informality.
ISSN:0927-5940
1573-6970
DOI:10.1007/s10797-021-09724-8