Doing Business Regional, National, and Subnational Reports
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Paying Taxes 2016
2016, World Bank Group, PwC
Since the first edition of paying taxes, and especially following the global financial crisis, the media, the public, and many policymakers have become increasingly interested in how international tax systems operate. Most recently the focus has been the work initiated by the G20 and carried out by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The BEPS agenda however does not consider what some commentators will consider to be equally important issues for developing economies, including how to enhance the administrative capacities of tax authorities, reduce the informal economy, and corruption while promoting growth and investment. The paying taxes study, with its emphasis on efficient tax compliance and straightforward tax regimes provides valuable insight into many of these developing country issues. It can be an invaluable source of information to decision-makers, providing an independent assessment of whether interventions are resulting in a simplified compliance process for a standardized domestic model business. Governments also often find it useful to be able to learn from the experience of economies in their peer group and to consider whether a measure adopted elsewhere may be relevant for the economy.
Paying Taxes 2015: The Global Picture
2015, World Bank Group, PwC
This is the tenth year that the paying taxes indicator has been part of the World Bank Doing Business project. The journey over the period of the study has been an eventful and interesting one and the economic backdrop continues to present a challenging environment for governments as they consider their future fiscal policies. Globalization, the march of technological change, changing demographic patterns and the persistent challenges that continue around climate change and the environment all come together to generate a turbulent mix of issues which have a significant impact on fiscal policy and the associated tax systems. Against this backdrop, this year the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has put forward proposals for changing the international tax rules to modernize them for today s globalized business and to address concerns over base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). It is apparent that these proposals are already changing the way some tax authorities apply existing rules, leading to new and increased uncertainty for business, at least in the short term. Alongside all of this however there are two simple, mutually supportive objectives for governments; to ensure that there are sufficient public revenues for the future, to lay a foundation for sustained improvements in productivity, while at the same time incentivising investment and economic growth. This year the authors have also focused more on the compliance aspects of the information that authors collect through the study. Stable tax systems and strong tax administrations are important for businesses, helping them to operate in an environment where the tax treatment of transactions is predictable, and where governments operate transparently. The paying taxes study provides an unrivalled global database which supports an ongoing research program.
Paying Taxes 2011: The Global Picture
2011, World Bank, International Finance Corporation, PwC
Taxes are the price you pay for civilization. Taxes provide government revenues, and those who pay them have a stake in the system and in how government spends its money. Taxes are lifeblood of a stable and prosperous society. In the wake of the global economic downturn levying tax in even more difficult. With large structural deficits in the big developed economies, fiscal policy has never been under so much public scrutiny. While there is a clear expectation that economies will need to raise taxes as well as making spending cuts, they will need to remain cautious in how they raise taxes to ensure that recovery is not stifled. For developing economies, with cuts in aid budgets, tax revenues may prove to be a more sustainable source of financing. But challenges remain in terms of combating capital flight. Reducing the size of the informal economy and helping tax authorities to monitor compliance and collect taxes.