The National Directorate of Tax Revenues (DNIT), Paraguay’s tax and customs authority, is advancing preparations with the Association of Paraguayan Banks for a system to speed up access to bank activity during tax audits and investigations.
The mechanism will be integrated with banks through a technology platform connected by web service. This will allow DNIT to request and receive financial data more quickly during an audit or investigation.
DNIT’s national director, Óscar Orué, said the change does not mean that every transfer made by taxpayers will be analyzed automatically. “It is not that every transaction will be checked. The profile of each taxpayer will be examined,” he said.
The focus will be on comparing usual financial behavior with the information declared to the tax authority. If significant differences are identified, the taxpayer may explain the origin of the funds during the audit and present a defense.
According to Orué, Paraguayan legislation has allowed access to this bank data since 2020. The agreement therefore does not create, in his characterization, a new power for DNIT; it mainly changes the procedure and reduces the time needed to obtain the information.
Operationally, the planned change is the faster exchange of data when an audit is opened. The review would still be based on the taxpayer’s profile and financial history rather than an automatic check of every transfer. That distinction matters because it clarifies the system’s practical effect for taxpayers and businesses without presenting the agreement as a verified change in DNIT’s legal authority.
The director also stressed that a temporary increase in account activity does not necessarily represent new taxable income. Transfers between family members, repayment of a loan or the late receipt of an amount already invoiced may temporarily increase the volume of transactions without constituting tax evasion.
In these situations, the analysis should consider the taxpayer’s average levels and financial history. An occasional transaction that does not significantly change this pattern will not, by itself, indicate an irregularity.
Orué also said that access to data within DNIT is restricted to employees whose duties and responsibilities justify it. The institution keeps records that make it possible to identify who accessed the information and under what circumstances, the director said.
The agreement also provides that banks may consult tax returns, such as income-tax or Value-Added Tax (VAT) returns, only with the taxpayer’s express authorization. Without that authorization, financial institutions will not have access to these documents.