Our firms in Chile and Panama discuss their respective countries efforts to bounce back from the impact of Covid 19 in the September edition of the IAB.

The International Accounting Bulletin (IAB) recently published its Country Report for Chile and Panama, in which our member firms MGI Hernán Espejo y Asociados in Chile, and  MGI Montúfar and Asociados in Panama, share thoughts on the accounting sector in their respective countries.

Chile’s accounting sector ‘poised for new growth’

Despite its prosperity within the Latin America region, Chile was hit hard by social unrest during 2019, which it was just beginning to recover from when Covid hit in 2020. The future is looking positive though with Chile already showing signs of bouncing back stronger than before. It has been proposed that a new constitution be drafted as a result of the social unrest, and Chile responded quickly to the pandemic by making adjustments to the tax and regulatory reform it had already started in 2020. 

Viviana Rojas, partner at MGI Hernán Espejo y Asociados comments:

“Adjustments in the constitution that affect the pension system in Chile (AFP) allow affiliates to withdraw 10% of pension funds, with a limit of USD 5,500 for each withdrawal.”

Viviana explains further that benefits such as bonds for SMEs and individuals have been granted, as well as postponement in the payment of real estate contributions and bank loans, with preferential rates guaranteed by the state.

Tax relief & EMMA LAW in Panama incentivise business growth

Panama was hit hard by the global downturn last year, suffering one of the highest Covid fatality rates in the world, which has affected economic activity. The country has fought hard to combat the effects of the pandemic though, and there have been significant regulatory developments regarding tax and labour including the EMMA Law; a special fiscal regime for multinational companies that provide services related to the manufacturing sector.

Eduardo Montúfar Rojas, partner at MGI Montúfar and Asociados, explains:

"The Panamanian government has instituted several economic reactivation programmes but their success has been limited. This is due to the demand of extremely cumbersome requirements and lengthy procedures that impede people from getting the money promptly. Few disbursements have been made that can change the current economic situation."

While the bounce back is underway, Eduardo concluded that bureaucracy in general is hampering all the government's initiative's to get the economy back on track.

Latin American firms continue to rank highly against other top accounting associations

Our member firms in Chile, Panama, Brazil and Colombia continue to rank highly against the other top accounting associations in the region.

Following September’s accounting network and association rankings we’re delighted to report that in Chile, our member firms are ranking an impressive 3^rd for fee income and 5^th for staff data. In Panama, our member firms hold 5^th position for both fee income and staff data. Member firms in Brazil hold the 2^nd position for fee income and are 4^th for staff data while in Colombia they hold the 4^th and 3^rd positions for fee income and staff data respectively. 

MGI Worldwide CPAAI would like to congratulate our member firms in Latin America who are responsible for helping achieve these fantastic results. 

For more information, visit the MGI Hernán Espejo y Asociados profile page or website and MGI Montúfar and Asociados profile page or website.

MGI Worldwide with CPAAI is a top 20 ranked global accounting network and association with almost 10,000 professionals, accountants and tax experts in some 460 locations in almost 100 countries around the world.