On average, Colombian municipalities depend 67% on State transfers, according to information from the National Planning Department. This dependence is particularly marked in PDET municipalities, mostly rural and category 6, which imposes challenges on the financial autonomy and agenda of the territories, so it is of utmost importance to strengthen own collection through tax compliance.

Against this backdrop, in 2022 Rimisp advanced a project that explored the Strengthening of the tax culture through the public, administrative, citizen and open government dimension. Within the framework of the Responsible Governance (RG) program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the project “Fostering local tax culture in two PDET municipalities” was developed with the participation of representatives of civil society organizations, trade unions, academic entities and public servants from the Treasury Departments of each municipality.

The main objective of the project was to identify and have a positive impact on aspects that determine the relationship between citizens and the public sector, specifically in the fulfillment of tax duties; that is, on the tax culture. To achieve this objective, the municipalities of Florencia in Caquetá and San Andrés de Tumaco in Nariño were prioritized as “pilot municipalities”, in which various interventions were carried out in order to test and systematize practices that may foster such culture. The experiences carried out were integrated in four stages: diagnosis, training, co-creation and tax culture interventions.

The interventions were framed within the “Pa’ las que sea” strategy, which included: technical, communication and pedagogical elements, carried out through innovative methodologies that appropriated social and cultural elements particular to the contexts. Several achievements stand out from this process, including the great impact of pedagogical processes and communication mechanisms in clear language for civil society organizations and citizens in general, the transformation of perceptions and intentions of action regarding taxation, a great interest of civil society in decentralization and the promotion of the concept of “tax pride”.

Rimisp also developed a tax culture toolbox containing a set of playful, pedagogical and informative pieces that can be used by civil society organizations and municipal governments to strengthen the culture of tax compliance and tax collection.