This article deals with a fiscal reform implemented in Chile during the late 1870s, when the country was suffering a severe economic and fiscal crisis, on the eve of the War of the Pacific. In 1879, the Chilean government introduced a new set of direct levies, taxing inheritance, income and wealth, despite the historic resistance of most of the economic elites to direct taxation in a highly unequal society. The process also shows that not all the economic elite avoided direct taxation. Despite other challenges faced by any developing country in extracting taxes from its population (e.g. lack of both proper information and human capital), during c.1879-1884 collection of these new direct taxes was successful, mainly on account of the improved extractive capacity built up during the preceding decades. Yet, by the mid-1890s all direct taxes (new and old) had been either derogated or transferred to local government (in some cases after being modified). Once again, Chilean central government depended entirely on indirect taxes, with export duties on nitrate being the most important. Nitrate provides a good example of an export boom shaping taxation for the worse; rather than increasing and diversifying the sources of revenue, a dominant sector of the Chilean economic elite decided to stop paying direct taxes and to make the state entirely dependent on the cycles of the international economy. However, some members of the economic elite, although defeated in their purpose, were aware of the wide range of benefits of keeping direct taxation: social justice, financial health and less vulnerability to trade cycles. Unfortunately, the balance of power favoured elite groups with enough power to hinder direct taxation.

El artículo analiza los cambios en la estructura tributaria de Yucatán, México, durante la transición del régimen colonial a la fiscalidad liberal, de 1850 a 1902. Caracteriza sus etapas en función de la composición y el protagonismo alternativo de los impuestos directos y los impuestos indirectos en las rentas públicas. Durante los profundos cambios en la estructura económica, la tributación indirecta al consumo y los impuestos directos sobre los sectores secundario y terciario protegieron el crecimiento del sector productivo del henequén (1869-1882). Finalmente, el impuesto sobre el henequén no sustituyó a los ingresos indirectos. La modernización fiscal (1896-1902) equilibró la tributación directa de producto con los aplicados a sectores más urbanos, el secundario y las ventas del sector mercantil.

In 1821 a clearly modern tax reform was undertaken in Buenos Aires. Ancien Regime taxes were suppressed and it was created a system which included usual assessments related to international commerce, but also direct taxes on capitals, in order to diminish the dependence on duty customs and to distribute the fiscal weight in a more equitable manner, by taxing proprietors in proportion to their wealth.

In these work, we reconstruct fiscal series, showing the little weight of the «Contribución Directa» over fiscal income. Also we study some attempts to improve this tax collection, which failed once and again.

Finally we try to explain those failures and the reasons to maintain a regressive tax system which, nevertheless, was efficient and brought lesser political costs than direct taxes.