[{"bbox": [82, 112, 1120, 301], "category": "Text", "text": "The political environment in Guatemala is currently not well suited for a comprehensive fiscal reform due to the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis and low political leverage of the Executive in the National Congress. However, the proposed programme is aligned with the SAT's medium-term strategy, which seeks to increase the tax to GDP ratio by 2 points. This will be achieved by providing technical assistance to the SAT to renew outdated tax administration practices in order to make these more cost-effective and efficient. The proposed action also includes the production of strategic studies that will provide policy and operational recommendations to improve DRM and support administrative and fiscal reforms."}, {"bbox": [82, 324, 1120, 513], "category": "Text", "text": "The programme therefore acknowledges the political context but proposes to lay the technical groundwork, including policy recommendations to trigger a comprehensive fiscal reform in the future. By implementing the proposed action, the EU will lead the technical assistance, which specifically targets the strategic activities to improve DRM, thereby positioning itself as a key player in the field. The technical groundwork has to be considered in conjunction with the weight of EU political dialogue along with other major donors around the fiscal working group, as well as the rising civic pressure in Guatemala and in the region for increased social spending to address the post-covid recovery needs."}, {"bbox": [82, 538, 1120, 594], "category": "Text", "text": "Identification of main stakeholders and corresponding institutional and/or organisational issues (mandates, potential roles, and capacities) to be covered by the action:"}, {"bbox": [82, 617, 1120, 699], "category": "Text", "text": "The additional fiscal revenues this action will produce aim to support the most vulnerable (i.e., indigenous people, women, persons with disabilities and the young) to overcome social, economic, ethnic and gender inequalities. As well as to improve public service delivery and accessibility for the benefit of all Guatemalans."}, {"bbox": [82, 724, 457, 750], "category": "Text", "text": "The main stakeholders in this action are:"}, {"bbox": [82, 778, 1120, 886], "category": "List-item", "text": "* The Tax Administration Authority (SAT): is a decentralized and autonomous agency, exclusively responsible for implementing and enforcing tax administration. This encompasses tax collection, enforcement of tax legislation, control and enforcement of tax compliance and planning and the implementation of reforms related to tax administration as laid out in its Medium-Term Strategic Plan 2018-2023."}, {"bbox": [82, 912, 1120, 994], "category": "List-item", "text": "* The Ministry of Finance (MINFIN): oversees the economic policy of the country, the management of fiscal resources and the design and implementation of the fiscal and tax policy. The latter includes the supervision and monitoring of tax collection and the operations of the SAT."}, {"bbox": [82, 1020, 1120, 1260], "category": "List-item", "text": "* The main direct beneficiaries of the proposed action are Guatemalan citizens. Fundamentally, this includes all citizens who benefit from better public services that otherwise would have not occurred. It also includes Guatemalan taxpayers (including businesses and the private sector), who will benefit directly from lower compliance costs, improved assistance to taxpayers and increased transparency of the SAT. In fact, a more reliable institutional framework, including streamlined processes, standardized procedures and appropriate human resource management policies, will enable the SAT to have a more effective decision-making process and improve productivity, administrative efficiency and transparency and accountability. Certain reforms will help reduce discretionary practices of tax officials, mitigating the risk of corruption through more efficient and streamlined processes."}, {"bbox": [119, 1285, 1120, 1394], "category": "Text", "text": "The participation of independent oversight bodies, including the Human Rights Ombudsman Office and civil society will be central for maximising the impact of this action. The objective is to keep civil society integrally involved and informed to provide impulse to the adoption of fiscal reform policies. Civil Society organisations will also be invited to participate in the programme's steering committee."}, {"bbox": [72, 1445, 579, 1480], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION"}, {"bbox": [109, 1508, 518, 1541], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 3.1. Objectives and Expected Outputs"}, {"bbox": [82, 1578, 1043, 1607], "category": "Text", "text": "The Overall Objective (Impact) of this action is to increase domestic revenue mobilisation in Guatemala."}, {"bbox": [1115, 1637, 1129, 1660], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "8"}]