Improving Tax Administration in Developing Countries

Improving Tax Administration in Developing Countries
Author: Richard Miller Bird
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 430
Release: 1992-09-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

"Taxation, like politics, is the art of the possible -- yet most public finance texts ignore the critical role played by tax administration in restoring macroeconomic balance and promoting equity and efficiency. This volume fills a gap in the literature by linking tax policy and tax administration reform and exploring ways to improve taxpayer compliance. The papers included in the volume were prepared for a symposium sponsored by the Instituto de Estudios Fiscales of the Ministry of Finance of Spain. The editors are authorities on tax policy and administration and have published extensively on tax issues."--P. [4] of cover.

Tax Administration in Developing Countries

Tax Administration in Developing Countries
Author: Mr.Charles Y. Mansfield
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 26
Release: 1987-06-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451975392

This paper examines the role of tax administration in developing countries from an economic perspective. The traditional separation of tax policy and tax administration in the literature is shown to break down in developing countries, where tax administrators decide in what manner complicated tax legislation should actually be applied. After surveying economic literature dealing with tax administration, the paper offers guidelines on how tax administrators can help implement more efficient and equitable tax systems.

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.

Building Tax Culture, Compliance and Citizenship A Global Source Book on Taxpayer Education, Second Edition

Building Tax Culture, Compliance and Citizenship A Global Source Book on Taxpayer Education, Second Edition
Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2021-11-24
Genre:
ISBN: 9264724788

Widespread voluntary tax compliance plays a significant role in countries’ efforts to raise the revenues necessary to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. As part of this process, governments are increasingly reaching out to taxpayers – current and future – to teach, communicate and assist them in order to foster a “culture of compliance” based on rights and responsibilities, in which citizens see paying taxes as an integral aspect of their relationship with their government.

Reform by Numbers

Reform by Numbers
Author: Thomas Cantens
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2012-11-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821397133

This book was written in the context of new and innovative policies for customs and tax administration reform. Eight chapters describe how measurement and various quantification techniques may be used to fight against corruption, improve cross-border celerity, boost revenue collection, and optimize the use of public resources. More than presenting “best practices” and due to the association of academics and practitioners, the case studies explore the conditions under which measurement has been introduced and the effects on the administrative structure, and its relations with the political authority and the users. By analyzing the introduction of measurement to counter corruption and improve revenue collection in Cameroon, two chapters describe to which extent the professional culture has changed and what effects have been noted or not on the public accountability of fiscal administrations. Two other chapters present experiments of uses of quantification to develop risk analysis in Cameroon and Senegal. By using mirror analysis on the one hand and data mining on the other hand, these two examples highlight the importance of automated customs clearance systems which collect daily extensive data on users, commodities flows and officials. One chapter develops the idea of measuring smuggling to improve the use of human and material resources in Algeria and nurture the questioning on the adaptation of a legal framework to the social context of populations living near borders. Finally, two examples of measurement policies, in France and in South Korea, enlighten the diversity of measurement, the specificities of developing countries and the convergences between developing and developed countries on common stakes such as trade facilitation and better use of public funds.

Taxation in Developing Countries

Taxation in Developing Countries
Author: Roger Gordon
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2010-07-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0231520077

Taxes are a crucial policy issue, especially in developing countries. Just recently, proposals to raise middle-class taxes toppled the Bolivian government, and plans to extend or increase the value-added tax caused political unrest in Ecuador and Mexico. Despite the impact of tax policy on developing countries, a comprehensive study has yet to be written. Treating Argentina, Brazil, India, Kenya, Korea, and Russia as key case studies, this volume outlines the major aspects of current tax codes and explores their economic and political implications. Examples of both the poorest and wealthiest developing countries, Argentina, Brazil, India, Kenya, Korea, and Russia uniquely demonstrate the diverse fiscal problems of tax reform. Each economy relies heavily on indirect and corporate income taxes, though recently some have reduced their tariff rates and have switched from excise to value-added taxes. There is a large, informal economy in most of these countries, and tax evasion by firms is a significant concern. As a result, tax revenue remains low, even though rates are as high as those in developed economies. Also, unconventional methods to collect revenue have been implemented, including bank debit taxes, state ownership of firms, and implicit taxes on individuals in the informal sector. Exploring these and other concerns, as well as changes in tax law, administration, and fiscal pressures, this comprehensive anthology clarifies the current landscape of tax administration and the economic future of the world's poorer economies.

Taxation in Developing Countries

Taxation in Developing Countries
Author: Richard Miller Bird
Publisher: Baltimore, Md. : Johns Hopkins University Press
Total Pages: 552
Release: 1990
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Selection of studies relating to taxation in developing countries. The papers are organized under the following subjects: approaches to development taxation, lessons from experience, taxation and incentives, problems in direct taxation, the reform of indirect taxation, the role of local taxes, tax administration and tax policy. Contributors: Carl S. Shoup, Vito Tanzi, Richard Goode, Charles E. McLure, Richard Bird, Oliver Oldman, Sijbren Cnossen and many others.

Designing a Tax Administration Reform Strategy

Designing a Tax Administration Reform Strategy
Author: Ms.Katherine Baer
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 37
Release: 1997-03-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451980396

Building on previous FAD work in the tax administration field, this paper defines broad criteria for diagnosing the problems in a country’s tax administration and formulating an appropriate reform strategy. To be effective, this strategy should be based on the size of the tax gap and the country’s particular circumstances. This paper discusses some guiding principles which have provided the basis for successful reforms, including: reducing the tax system’s complexity, encouraging taxpayers’ voluntary compliance, differentiating the treatment of taxpayers by their revenue potential, and ensuring the reform’s effective management. Also discussed are specific bottlenecks that hinder the effectiveness of the tax administration’s operations.

Imposing Standards

Imposing Standards
Author: Martin Hearson
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2021-06-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1501755994

In Imposing Standards, Martin Hearson shifts the focus of political rhetoric regarding international tax rules from tax havens and the Global North to the damaging impact of this regime on the Global South. Even when not exploited by tax dodgers, international tax standards place severe limits on the ability of developing countries to tax businesses, denying the Global South access to much-needed revenue. The international rules that allow tax avoidance by multinational corporations have dominated political debate about international tax in the United States and Europe, especially since the global financial crisis of 2007–2008. Hearson asks how developing countries willingly gave up their right to tax foreign companies, charting their assimilation into an OECD-led regime from the days of early independence to the present day. Based on interviews with treaty negotiators, policymakers and lobbyists, as well as observation at intergovernmental meetings, archival research, and fieldwork in Africa and Asia, Imposing Standards shows that capacity constraints and imperfect negotiation strategies in developing countries were exploited by capital-exporting states, shielding multinationals from taxation and depriving nations in the Global South of revenue they both need and deserve. Thanks to generous funding from the Gates Foundation, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories.