Selected Issues Papers

Tax Expenditures in Uruguay

By Dirk V Muir, Hector Perez-Saiz

November 4, 2025

Download PDF More Formats on IMF eLibrary Order a Print Copy
More formats on IMF eLibrary Order a Print Copy

Preview Citation

Format: Chicago

Dirk V Muir, and Hector Perez-Saiz. "Tax Expenditures in Uruguay", Selected Issues Papers 2025, 143 (2025), accessed November 6, 2025, https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229029964.018

Export Citation

  • ProCite
  • RefWorks
  • Reference Manager
  • BibTex
  • Zotero
  • EndNote

Summary

With around 180 active tax expenditures and an estimated revenue foregone equivalent to about 6 percent of GDP in 2021, the third highest in Latin America, Uruguay offers a diverse array of tax breaks. This paper investigates the composition and trends of tax expenditures in Uruguay, benchmarking the results from a cross-country perspective. Since many of these incentives have endured for decades, previous literature suggest a detailed reevaluation of their costs and benefits would be beneficial. Macroeconomic simulations suggest that a relatively modest tax reform reducing tax expenditures could create additional space for productive public expenditure and enhance long-term growth.

Subject: Expenditure, Public debt, Public financial management (PFM), Public investment spending, Tax expenditures, Tax incentives, Taxes

Keywords: Cost-benefit analysis, Public investment, Public investment spending, Subsidies, Tax expenditures, Tax expenditures, Tax incentives

Publication Details

You May Also Be Interested In...

How Can Europe Pay for Things That It Can't Afford?

November 4, 2025

Ghana: Technical Assistance Report-Governance Diagnostic Assessment

November 3, 2025

Debt Vulnerabilities in Low-Income Countries Recent Developments and Trends

October 31, 2025

Maximum Sustainable Debt Across Countries: An Assessment using P-Theory

October 31, 2025