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<p>This study documents the existing gap between tax structure and tax visibility using evidence from a nationally representative survey in Chile around the time of a contentious tax reform bill. Debates over taxation often assume that taxpayers know the scale and reach of their tax obligations and the benefits associated to paying taxes, which are crucial to the success of taxation as a tool for development. We tested the assumption of a well-informed taxpayer and find generalised opacity along with the stratification of both income and value-added taxes visibility. We end by discussing how tax visibility relates to taxpayers’ expectations of tax morality and redistribution.</p><p>[<em>We thank the Instituto de Políticas Públicas of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, in particular to Ignacio Irarrázaval and Francisca Alessandri, for access to the data set and comments during the seminar “Encuesta Bicentenario: Una radiografía al alma de Chile,” in January 2015. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor of Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales for their helpful comments, and Germán Vera Concha and Jorge Atria for the lengthy discussions on these issues. The usual disclaimer applies</em>.]</p><p> </p>

Tax systems in Latin America are characterized by low collection, a higher incidence of regressive taxes and mechanisms, little redistribution, and poor compliance. Policymakers and international organizations have proposed reforms across the region with the aim of increasing revenue for social expenditures and sustainable growth. These challenges, however, are not new: Latin American countries have historically tried to build effective and egalitarian tax systems. This article illuminates the relationships between individual and state whereby citizenship and social cohesion take central stage. To do this, it examines different strands of literature and suggests new avenues for research. The article explores three dimensions of the social relations underpinning taxation: the building of citizenship through cooperation, the role of interest groups in the design and implementation of fiscal policy, and the resulting building of state capacity. These three relational dimensions open a research agenda on a fiscal sociology in Latin America, focusing on the social relationships that sustain and are created by fiscal arrangements. Keywords: Fiscal sociology, tax reform, inequality, state building, Latin America, democracy. Resumen: Hacia una sociología fiscal de América LatinaLos sistemas tributarios en América Latina se caracterizan por una baja recaudación, una mayor incidencia de impuestos y mecanismos regresivos, poca redistribución y un bajo cumplimiento. Los diseñadores de políticas y las organizaciones internacionales han propuesto reformas en la región con el objetivo de aumentar los ingresos para gastos sociales y un crecimiento sostenible. Sin embargo, estos desafíos no son nuevos: los países latinoamericanos históricamente han tratado de construir sistemas tributarios efectivos e igualitarios. Este artículo ilumina las relaciones entre el individuo y el estado donde la ciudadanía y la 140 | ERLACS No. 107 (2019): January-June cohesión social toman un lugar central. Con este objetivo, examina diferentes corrientes de la literatura y sugiere nuevas vías para investigaciones futuras. El artículo explora tres dimensiones de las relaciones sociales que sustentan la tributación: la construcción de la ciudadanía a través de la cooperación, el papel de los grupos de interés en el diseño y la implementación de la política fiscal, y la resultante construcción de la capacidad estatal. Estas tres dimensiones relacionales abren una agenda de investigación sobre temas fiscales a través del foco de la sociología fiscal en América Latina, centrándose en las relaciones sociales que sostienen y son creadas por los arreglos fiscales. Palabras clave: Sociología fiscal, reforma fiscal, desigualdad, construcción estatal, América Latina, democracia.

Cooperatives as Public Policy:

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