Taxing Questions

In the first of a four part series Maurice Walsh discovers why globalisation and the black market have drastically undermined governments' ability to generate revenue in the form of tax.

Part 1: Death and taxes (Tax collection)

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It's been said that only two things are inevitable - death and taxes. However, in many parts of the developing world, including Latin America and Africa, paying tax is the exception rather than the norm.

The culture is to avoid tax: neither the rich businessman nor the poor employee feels any duty to pay it. In Latin America for example personal taxes only count for five to 10% of total tax revenues.

Maurice Walsh visits Argentina where people pay little tax and Uruguay where people pay more tax to compare how these two countries have fared over recent years.