Tax Administration Criteria on the Burden of Proof in ALADI Member Countries: A Systematic Review

This study presents a systematic review of recent scientific literature (2019-2024) on the tax administration's criteria regarding the burden of proof in the member countries of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI). Through rigorous methodological analysis following the PRISMA guidelines, we examined articles from five academic databases (Dialnet, Google Scholar, Redalyc, ProQuest and Scielo), identifying significant patterns, divergences, and emerging trends in this critical aspect of tax law. Our findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in the regulatory and interpretive criteria applied by tax administrations regarding the distribution and assessment of the evidentiary burden, despite shared conceptual foundations across regional tax systems. We identified three key dimensions that affect evidentiary criteria: institutional organization of tax administrations, levels of taxpayer education, and the accelerating digital transformation of tax procedures. Recent studies highlight the growing impact of electronic billing, data protection regulations, and artificial intelligence in redefining traditional paradigms of evidentiary management. The identified challenges include regulatory fragmentation, informational asymmetries between administrations and taxpayers, and insufficient specialization of tax professionals in evidentiary matters. Our research provides valuable information for policymakers, legal practitioners, and academics interested in tax harmonization within the ALADI framework, contributing to the development of more equitable, efficient, and legally secure tax systems in Latin America. We recommend harmonizing the laws on evidentiary criteria, strengthening tax education programs, developing specialized technological tools, and promoting further empirical research on the economic impact of evidentiary standards on regional trade and investment.