Reducing tax evasion is one of the main objectives of countries, especially less developed countries with fewer resources. The literature has studied various tools to deal with tax evasion, but the results have been inconclusive. In addition, most of the evidence comes from developed countries. To contribute to addressing this gap, this study presents evidence on the impact of audit programs on the reduction of tax evasion in Paraguay. Using the synthetic difference-in-differences methodology, the study evaluates the effect of the audits on declared sales, the reduction of purchases, and the payment of taxes by firms during the 20182019 period. In addition, results are presented on the use of a tax dashboard that identifies discrepancies in declarations by firms. The findings show that the audits are effective in addressing tax evasion, and that the dashboard can orient criteria for more efficient fiscal control, which is particularly important during the time of COVID 19. It is thus shown that in less developed countries, governmental auditing activities are key to improving tax collection.

Government oversight initiatives have demonstrated some effectiveness in the fight against corruption. However, lessons can be learned from the literature with regard to the impact of improvements in the auditors capacities and knowledge on effectiveness. This paper seeks to present evidence on the impact on efficiency of the New Talents in Government Control (Nuevos Talentos en Control Gubernamental) program, instigated by the Comptroller General of the Republic (Contraloría General de la República, or CGR) in Peru with respect to processing citizen complaints. This program offers a rigorous training and specialization process for professionals who are recruited from outside the CGR and selected on merit (with a 1.25 percent acceptance rate), Civil servants who successfully complete the selection process and receive the training are expected to achieve a better performance. Using data from the CGR complaints system and from the specialized train-ing, the difference-in-differences methodology was applied to evaluate the impact of the program at the regional office level. The results showed that the offices that incorporated New Talents into their team increased their success rate in dealing with complaints by 36 percentage points, and the success rate of incidents reported rose by 32 percentage points, while the success rate for warnings improved by 27 percentage points. According to these preliminary results, the program appears to be an effective initiative for improving the CGRs internal processes and contributing to the fight against corruption.