Presumptive Taxation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Presumptive Taxation in Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Mr.Günther Taube
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 50
Release: 1996
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

This paper analyses presumptive taxation methods and their application in Sub-Saharan Africa. Presumptive taxation involves simple techniques to capture domestic transactions and sources of income that frequently escapes conventional taxation.

Tax Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Tax Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Zmarak Shalizi
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 38
Release: 1988
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780821311653

Trade is an essential driver for sustained economic growth, and growth is necessary for poverty reduction. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where three-fourths of the poor live in rural areas, spurring growth and generating income and employment opportunities is critical for poverty reduction strategies. Seventy percent of the population lives in rural areas, where livelihoods are largely dependent on the production and export of raw agricultural commodities such as coffee, cocoa, and cotton, whose prices in real terms have been steadily declining over the past decades. The deterioration in the terms of trade resulted for Africa in a steady contraction of its share in global trade over the past 50 years. Diversification of agriculture into higher-value, non-traditional exports is seen today as a priority for most of these countries. Some African countries-in particular, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, CÔte d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Zimbabwe-have managed to diversify their agricultural sector into non-traditional, high-value-added products such as cut flowers and plants, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. To learn from these experiences and better assist other African countries in designing and implementing effective agricultural growth and diversification strategies, the World Bank has launched a comprehensive set of studies under the broad theme of "Agricultural Trade Facilitation and Non-Traditional Agricultural Export Development in Sub-Saharan Africa." This study provides an in-depth analysis of the current structure and dynamics of the European import market for flowers and fresh horticulture products. It aims to help client countries, industry stakeholders, and development partners to get a better understanding of these markets, and to assess the prospects and opportunities they offer for Sub-Saharan African exporters.

Designing a Presumptive Income Tax Based on Turnover in Countries with Large Informal Sectors

Designing a Presumptive Income Tax Based on Turnover in Countries with Large Informal Sectors
Author: Feng Wei
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 47
Release: 2023-12-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Turnover (sales) is frequently used in developing countries as a presumptive income tax base, to economize on the costs of tax administration and taxpayer compliance. We construct a simple model where a size threshold separates firms paying turnover tax from those paying profit tax (regular income tax), and where firms have the option of producing in the untaxed, informal sector. The optimal turnover tax rate trades off two policy concerns: reducing informality and avoiding strategic reductions in sales by firms seeking to remain below the threshold for the profit tax. We provide analytical results and calibrate the model to compute the optimal policy using realistic parameter values. The optimal turnover tax rate for countries with large informal sectors is found to be around 2.5% across most scenarios, while the threshold separating the turnover tax regime from profit tax lies for the most part between $65,000 and $95,000. Introducing an optimally designed turnover tax reduces the rate of informality of businesses by about 12 percentage points in the calibrated model.

Property Tax in Africa

Property Tax in Africa
Author: Riël C. D. Franzsen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2017
Genre: Property tax
ISBN: 9781558443631

"Overview of property tax systems across Africa. Reviews of salient features for 29 countries and four regions (Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone, North African countries). Chapters offer in-depth discussion of key policy issues (tax base, exemptions and other relief, and tax rate), administrative issues (valuation and assessment, billing, collection, enforcement), and the future of the property tax in Africa"--Provided by publisher.

Revenue Administration Handbook

Revenue Administration Handbook
Author: Raúl Félix Junquera-Varela
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 499
Release: 2024-03-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464820546

Revenue Administration Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the structure and management of tax and customs administrations, covering topics such as tax policy design considerations that impact tax administration, institutional setup and strategic planning, analyticalcapacities and maturity models, core business processes, and tax sanctions. It also presents pioneering work in the field of digital transformation and how to build data science capabilities, including a roadmap for policy makers and tax officials on how to incorporate and manage disruptive technologies, such as machine learning, into building modern revenue administrations while taking into account their respective maturity levels. This practical manual provides examples from real-life World Bank projects so that policy makers, tax officials, information technology experts, and information and communication technology providers can better understand the needs of revenue administrations to design and implement the most appropriate technology solutions. This reference work is intended to serve as a tool to facilitate the progress and modernization of tax and customs administrations worldwide, and to reach not only tax experts and policy makers, but also other government officials, businesses and academic communities, as well as the larger public, since all are relevant stakeholders with an active role in day-to-day revenue administration operations. ------------------------- “This is a very timely and useful reference for tax practitioners and stakeholders, coming at a time when tax administrators continue to grapple with the challenge of how to accelerate the modernization of technology systems to remain effective in a rapidly advancing and technologydriven business environment.†? MOSES WASIKE, Senior financial management specialist, World Bank “This is an impressive piece of work that pulls together many different strains on tax administration.†? JEFFREY OWENS, Director, Global Tax Policy Center, Vienna University “Applying several technologies discussed in this handbook in an innovative manner will definitely help leapfrog countries to pursue a digital transformation agenda, especially in the areas of efficiency, productivity, and citizen satisfaction.†?

Linking the Formal and Informal Economy

Linking the Formal and Informal Economy
Author: Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2006-09-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0191525480

The concepts of formal and informal remain central to the theory and practice of development more than half a century after they were introduced into the debate. They help structure the way that statistical services collect data on the economies of developing countries, the development of theoretical and empirical analysis, and, most important, the formulation and implementation of policy. This volume brings together a significant new collection of studies on formality and informality in developing countries. The volume is multidisciplinary in nature, with contributions from anthropologists, economists, sociologists, and political scientists. It contains contributions from among the very best analysts in development studies. Between them the chapters argue for moving beyond the formal-informal dichotomy. Useful as it has proven to be, a more nuanced approach is needed in light of conceptual and empirical advances, and in light of the policy failures brought about by a characterization of the 'informal' as 'disorganized'. The wealth of empirical information in these studies, and in the literature more widely, can be used to develop guiding principles for intervention that are based on ground level reality.

Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries

Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries
Author: Deborah Brautigam
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2008-01-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139469258

There is a widespread concern that, in some parts of the world, governments are unable to exercise effective authority. When governments fail, more sinister forces thrive: warlords, arms smugglers, narcotics enterprises, kidnap gangs, terrorist networks, armed militias. Why do governments fail? This book explores an old idea that has returned to prominence: that authority, effectiveness, accountability and responsiveness is closely related to the ways in which governments are financed. It matters that governments tax their citizens rather than live from oil revenues and foreign aid, and it matters how they tax them. Taxation stimulates demands for representation, and an effective revenue authority is the central pillar of state capacity. Using case studies from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, this book presents and evaluates these arguments, updates theories derived from European history in the light of conditions in contemporary poorer countries, and draws conclusions for policy-makers.

IMF Macroeconomic Research on Low-Income Countries

IMF Macroeconomic Research on Low-Income Countries
Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2004-01-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781589062733

Summarizes the for ward-looking analytical work program on macroeconomic issues related to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper approach. The program is evolving through a process that began with a technical workshop; participants from low-income countries, donors, academia, and civil society drafted guidance on selected issues and identified priority research topics. Partners, policymakers, and economic scholars are encouraged to share their perspectives and findings through respective team leaders, whose e-mail addresses are provided. The publication also summarizes IMF analytical work, and contains a bibliography of nearly 1,000 papers.

IMF Survey

IMF Survey
Author: International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 458
Release: 1996-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 145193744X

The Web edition of the IMF Survey is updated several times a week, and contains a wealth of articles about topical policy and economic issues in the news. Access the latest IMF research, read interviews, and listen to podcasts given by top IMF economists on important issues in the global economy. www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/home.aspx