Publication: Taxation and Development
Loading...
Date
2010-10
ISSN
Published
2010-10
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
For more than half a century, scholars and international agencies have been making recommendations about taxation in developing countries. The advice economists have offered to developing countries has changed over time, particularly regarding income and consumption taxes. Why? What do we know now about taxes and developing countries that we did not know 50 years ago? What do we still not know that we really should know? What should scholars and international agencies do if they wish to make tax policy recommendations that are economically sensible and likely to prove feasible, acceptable, and helpful in practice? This brief note offers some tentative answers to these complex questions.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Bird, Richard. 2010. Taxation and Development. Economic Premise; No. 34. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10150 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Subnational Taxation in Developing Countries : A Review of the Literature(2010-10-01)This paper reviews the literature on tax assignment in decentralized countries. Ideally, own-source revenues should be sufficient to enable at least the richest subnational governments to finance from their own resources all locally-provided services that primarily benefit local residents. Subnational taxes should also not unduly distort the allocation of resources. Most importantly, to the extent possible subnational governments should be accountable at the margin for financing the expenditures for which they are responsible. Although reality in most countries inevitably falls far short of these ideals, nonetheless there are several taxes that subnational governments in developing countries could use to help ensure that decentralization yields more of the benefits it appears to promise in theory. At the local level, such taxes include property taxes and, especially for larger cities, perhaps also a limited and well-designed local business tax. At the regional level, in addition to taxes on vehicles, governments in some countries may be able to utilize any or all of the following -- a payroll tax; a simple surcharge on the central personal income tax; and a sales tax, in some cases perhaps taking the form of a well-designed regional value-added tax. The "best" package for any particular country or subnational government is likely to be not only context-specific and path-dependent, but also highly sensitive to the balance struck between different political and economic factors and interests.Publication Tax Reform in Vietnam(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-09-30)In 2010, after two decades of rapid economic growth, Vietnam passed the threshold to become a lower-middle-income economy. Sustained market-oriented reforms combined with intensive efforts to integrate into the world economy are among the key drivers of this achievement. The reform of tax policy and administration has been a vital part of this transition. This is leading to a fundamental change in the composition of taxpayers, from large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and foreign-invested companies to a myriad of small and medium private enterprises. Economic transition is also leading to an equally important change in the sources of government revenue, away from cross-border trade-related taxes and revenue collection from crude oil toward a greater share of domestic tax revenue, in particular taxation of business profits, labor income, and capital gains on land. However, completing the transition to a market economy will require changes going beyond tax collection and administration procedures, and will involve changes to the tax instruments themselves. At the end of this process, Vietnam should have a set of taxes that is simple and transparent, secures a stable flow of revenues for the government, encourages an efficient allocation of resources, and does not risk constituting a source of inequality or unfairness. The purpose of the series of studies in this volume is to shed light on the issues Vietnam will be facing in the process of reforming its tax policy and administration. The studies are also expected to lead to concrete policy recommendations contributing to the preparation of key policies and legislative documents to ensure the achievement of the state budget revenue target and other tax administration reform targets in the SEDP 2011-2015. It is expected that the individual studies in this series will become useful inputs into the debate surrounding the issuance of new laws and regulations. It is also hoped that the volume will support the reform momentum in the tax policy area, leading to increased efficiency, transparency, and equity.Publication Taxation and Decentralization(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11)Strengthening sub-national governments is high on the policy agenda of many developing countries. From an economics perspective, the most important potential benefit from decentralization is the increased efficiency (and consequent welfare gain) that comes from moving governance closer to the people. To achieve this benefit, however, close attention must be paid to the design and implementation of sub-national tax systems.Publication Taxing Business(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-06)Economists are sometimes accused of agreeing on almost nothing. An important policy question on which many economists appear to agree, however, is that there is not much to be said in favor of taxing business and especially not internationally mobile corporations. The reason for such unanimity is primarily the substantial economic costs associated with business taxes, although the uncertainty as to whom really 'pays' such taxes in terms of their final incidence may also contribute to the disdain in which they are generally held by economists. But the world largely ignores conventional economic wisdom: people everywhere seems delighted to load as much of their tax burden as possible on "business" and particularly on large impersonal corporations.Publication Development of 13 Mozambican Municipalities in Central and Northern Mozambique : Summary report(World Bank, 2011-04-01)The objective of this study on the Development of 13 Mozambican Municipalities in Central and Northern Mozambique is to assess the impact that the 2008 reforms on own-source revenues is having on the municipal revenue potential. To do so, it calculates the revenue potential of four fiscal and three non-fiscal revenue sources. The analysis shows that there is substantial untapped revenue potential at the municipal level, with estimates indicating that -in the case of the most buoyant local revenue sources- municipalities are only collecting about half of the revenue potential. In the worst cases, municipalities are collecting far less than 10 percent of the total revenue potential of a local revenue source. The fact that a revenue gaps exists is not only an indication of weak municipal performance. Municipalities have relatively recently been created and it takes time, capacity, and effort, to consolidate their revenue functions. Tax administration is overall still weak and a series of vacuums exist on the municipal fiscal legislation. The analysis reveals that the current revenue instruments at the disposal of municipalities are generally appropriate municipal revenue instruments, so that efforts at the national and municipal levels should be made to build the capacity of the local tax administration to collect these revenues. The report provides specific suggestions on ways to strengthen the revenue collection for the main municipal revenue instruments. However, in addition to increasing municipal tax effort, the expenditure needs of municipalities are so demanding that additional intergovernmental transfers and tax sharing arrangements should also be considered as a building block of municipal finances in Mozambique. The results of this study aim to become part of the ongoing dialogue with the municipalities and national tax authorities to expand the understanding of municipal revenues in Mozambique on the basis of more sound empirical evidence. The scope of this analysis was limited to a sample of six municipalities. In-depth case studies were prepared for each of these municipalities, upon which the current Summary Report is based. The six case municipalities include: Beira, Cuamba, Marromeu, Nacala, Ribaue, and Vilankulo. To bring the Summary Report and the six municipal cases together in the most effective way, the current report follows the same structure as each of the municipal cases. The diagnosis of the current situation is presented in Section 2, followed by a discussion on the estimation of municipal revenue potential in Section 3. Proposals and recommendations regarding the strengthening of municipal revenue collection are presented in Section 4.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Empowerment in Practice : From Analysis to Implementation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)This book represents an effort to present an easily accessible framework to readers, especially those for whom empowerment remains a puzzling development concern, conceptually and in application. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 explains how the empowerment framework can be used for understanding, measuring, monitoring, and operationalizing empowerment policy and practice. Part 2 presents summaries of each of the five country studies, using them to discuss how the empowerment framework can be applied in very different country and sector contexts and what lessons can be learned from these test cases. While this book can offer only a limited empirical basis for the positive association between empowerment and development outcomes, it does add to the body of work supporting the existence of such a relationship. Perhaps more importantly, it also provides a framework for future research to test the association and to prioritize practical interventions seeking to empower individuals and groups.Publication Impact Evaluation in Practice, Second Edition(Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank, 2016-09-13)The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.Publication World Development Report 2004(World Bank, 2003)Too often, services fail poor people in access, in quality, and in affordability. But the fact that there are striking examples where basic services such as water, sanitation, health, education, and electricity do work for poor people means that governments and citizens can do a better job of providing them. Learning from success and understanding the sources of failure, this year’s World Development Report, argues that services can be improved by putting poor people at the center of service provision. How? By enabling the poor to monitor and discipline service providers, by amplifying their voice in policymaking, and by strengthening the incentives for providers to serve the poor. Freedom from illness and freedom from illiteracy are two of the most important ways poor people can escape from poverty. To achieve these goals, economic growth and financial resources are of course necessary, but they are not enough. The World Development Report provides a practical framework for making the services that contribute to human development work for poor people. With this framework, citizens, governments, and donors can take action and accelerate progress toward the common objective of poverty reduction, as specified in the Millennium Development Goals.Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication World Development Report 1984(New York: Oxford University Press, 1984)Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this year's report. As with most of its predecessors, it is divided into two parts. The first looks at economic performance, past and prospective. The second part is this year devoted to population - the causes and consequences of rapid population growth, its link to development, why it has slowed down in some developing countries. The two parts mirror each other: economic policy and performance in the next decade will matter for population growth in the developing countries for several decades beyond. Population policy and change in the rest of this century will set the terms for the whole of development strategy in the next. In both cases, policy changes will not yield immediate benefits, but delay will reduce the room for maneuver that policy makers will have in years to come.