Publication: It's No Illusion, You Can Pay Taxes with a Smile: The Rwanda Case
Loading...
Date
2014-04
ISSN
Published
2014-04
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
In the push for tax reform, there was a twofold guiding principle: 1) to lower the cost of compliance for taxpayers, reduce the cash flow burden by allowing quarterly rather than monthly tax payments and expediting refunds, and minimize points and frequency of contact between taxpayers and the tax authority; and 2) to safeguard government revenue by protecting collections and reducing administrative costs. The ultimate objective was to encourage businesses to pay taxes via a more attractive system. Since 2008, the government of Rwanda has emphasized Doing Business reforms to improve Rwanda s attractiveness to local and international investors. In response, the World Bank Group launched its investment climate reform project to support the national reform agenda.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Murangwa, Hadija; Mukunya, David. 2014. It's No Illusion, You Can Pay Taxes with a Smile: The Rwanda Case. IFC smart lessons brief;. © International Finance Corporation. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22597 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Taking Advantage of a Window of Opportunity(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2017-02)Rwanda’s government and private sector took a bold step towards achieving a critical reform agenda with the design and implementationof a single window for international trade system. This implementation marked the first successful collaboration among Rwanda’s numerous agencies that over see the country’s cross-border trade. Addressing the demands of a diverse group of stakeholders was certainly daunting, but effective stakeholder engagement and change management efforts have produced results that are exerting a major impact on the efficiency of goods into and transiting Rwanda. Driving the Single Window project was an aspiration for greater collaboration at the level of government-to-government, business-to business and government-to-business. Rwanda’s membership in the East African Community, which is a Single Customs Territory was another critical factor. By addressing national needs and incorporating a regional focus and outreach in the management of cargo, the Rwanda Electronic Single Window has achieved success.Publication A Win for the Private Sector(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2017-02)Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) launched its standards harmonization project in 2011 to help businesses cut costs associated with the different standards in force across the East African community (EAC). The first phase of the project will come to an end in June 2017. This project stemmed from the importance of standards development for regional integration and has been done through supporting the national bureaus of standards in achieving regional harmonization. Product standards have a significant impact on trade in goods within the EAC while non-harmonized standards continue to interrupt the smooth flow of goods in the region. This smart lessons describe the challenges to the harmonization process and how the project’s successful implementation is boosting trade within the region.Publication PortNet in Morocco(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2017-01)In 2008, Morocco’s National Ports Agency launched a project to create a national single-window platform for Morocco’s foreign tr ade. The process was long and difficult, and its success is owing in large part to the leadership and focus demonstrated by PORTNET S.A., the company created in 2012 to be in charge of the project. This SmartLesson describes the steps PORTNET took to forge a strategic alliance between public and private stakeholders in Morocco to achieve a common, mutually beneficial aim: streamline Morocco’s foreign trade procedures and improve its business climate.Publication Working with Tajikistan to Develop its First National Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activities(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2017-02)One of the most important instruments of trade facilitation is the commodity nomenclature, which provides a definition of all goods subject to foreign trade. The correct classification of goods forms the basis for determining the appropriate value of a good and for determining the customs duties imposed on a good on import or export. Customs statistics on foreign trade are derived from it, and those statistics in turn serve as a tool for the determination and implementation of customs policy. Commodity nomenclature is used not only at the national level, but also by the World Trade Organization, the World Customs Organization, the United Nations, and other international entities. Importers and exporters or investors in other countries visit customs nomenclature websites thousands of times a day to see the types and levels of customs duties and other charges and trade policy measures that particular countries apply. Trade policy regulations, rules of origin, and trade statistics in almost all of the developed and developing countries are designed and compiled on the basis of customs nomenclatures. This SmartLesson discusses how the Central Asia Trade Logistics Project worked with the Customs Administration of the Republic of Tajikistan on the development of its first national commodity nomenclature.Publication Taking the First Step to Facilitate Trade in Sudan(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2017-02)The Republic of Sudan’s seaports used to be known for congestion resulting from the slow processing of imported goods. In response, the government created an ad hoc National Committee on trade facilitation to help streamline the processing of goods coming in and to facilitate trade. This smart lesson describes the steps taken in setting up the National Committee on Trade Facilitation and the challenges involved.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Russian Trade and Foreign Direct Investment Policy at the Crossroads(2010-03-01)This paper summarizes the estimates of what Russia will get from World Trade Organization accession and why. A key finding is the estimate that Russia will gain about $53 billion per year in the medium term from World Trade Organization accession and $177 billion per year in the long term, due largely to its own commitments to reform its own business services sectors. The paper summarizes the principal reform commitments that Russia has undertaken as part of its World Trade Organization accession negotiations, and compares them with those of other countries that have acceded to the World Trade Organization. It finds that the Russian commitments represent a liberal offer to the members of the World Trade Organization for admission, but they are typical of other transition countries that have acceded to the World Trade Organization. The authors discuss the outstanding issues in the Russian World Trade Organizaiton accession negotiations, and explain why Russian accession will result in the elimination of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment against Russia. They discuss Russian policies to attract foreign direct investment, including an assessment of the impact of the 2008 law on strategic sectors and the increased role of the state in the economy. Finally, the authors assess the importance of Russian accession to Russia and to the international trading community, and suggestions for most efficiently meeting the government s diversification objective.Publication Petroleum Exploration and Production Rights : Allocation Strategies and Design Issues(World Bank, 2009-11-01)Petroleum has become an integral part of today's global economy and a key component of many national economies. Hence, the presence of petroleum in meaningful quantities can have important economic, developmental, and strategic consequences for a country. While a country's petroleum resource base is a gift of nature, translating this resource into saleable crude oil requires investment and effort. Whether governments choose to invest directly or allow private investors to do so, their primary concern should be to maximize the social benefits derived from the exploitation of the resource base. In practice, however, defining what constitutes maximum social welfare is essentially a political question, which helps explain the variety of objectives pursued by governments over time. In order to exploit their natural resources efficiently, many governments rely on private oil companies. Governments have a challenging task in deciding which companies should be awarded the exclusive rights to explore, develop, and produce their resources, and on what conditions such rights should be awarded. There is little empirical documentation on the design and relative effectiveness of alternative systems for the allocation of petroleum exploration, development, and production (E&P) rights and their policy implications. This paper analyzes the available evidence on the advantages and disadvantages of various practices used by petroleum producing countries to allocate petroleum E&P rights, and draws conclusions about the optimal design of E&P allocation systems.Publication An Assessment of the Investment Climate in South Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)The objective of the South Africa Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is to evaluate the investment climate in South Africa in all its operational dimensions and to promote policies to strengthen the private sector. The investment climate is made up of the many location-specific factors that shape opportunities and incentives for firms to invest productively, create jobs, and expand. These factors include macroeconomic and regulatory policies, the security of property rights and the rule of law, and the quality of supporting institutions such as physical and financial infrastructure. The main source of information for the ICA is a survey of over 800 formal private enterprises. The survey includes data on firm productivity, the cost of doing business, the regulatory environment, the labor market, the financial sector, the trade regime, and levels of investment. The analysis links business environment constraints to firm-level costs and productivity. Also, the investment climate and performance of firms in South Africa can be compared with those of firms in the more than 70 low- and middle income countries in which Investment Climate Surveys (ICSs) have been conducted.Publication From Growth to Green Growth : A Framework(2011-11-01)Green growth is about making growth processes resource-efficient, cleaner and more resilient without necessarily slowing them. This paper aims at clarifying these concepts in an analytical framework and at proposing foundations for green growth. The green growth approach proposed here is based on (1) focusing on what needs to happen over the next 5-10 years before the world gets locked into patterns that would be prohibitively expensive and complex to modify and (2) reconciling the short and the long term, by offsetting short-term costs and maximizing synergies and economic co-benefits. This, in turn, increases the social and political acceptability of environmental policies. This framework identifies channels through which green policies can potentially contribute to economic growth. However, only detailed country- and context-specific analyses for each of these channels could reach firm conclusion regarding their actual impact on growth. Finally, the paper discusses the policies that can be implemented to capture these co-benefits and environmental benefits. Since green growth policies pursue a variety of goals, they are best served by a combination of instruments: price-based policies are important but are only one component in a policy tool-box that can also include norms and regulation, public production and direct investment, information creation and dissemination, education and moral suasion, or industrial and innovation policies.Publication The Investment Climate in Brazil, India, and South Africa : A Comparison of Approaches for Sustaining Economic Growth in Emerging Economies(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008)This book seeks to contribute to the sharing of knowledge between Brazil, India, and South Africa, three of the largest emerging economies today. By assessing and comparing the investment climate in each, the authors seek to profile concrete steps that countries can take to improve the business environment. The authors focus particularly on identifying the commonalities and differences both within and among the three countries and attempt to highlight examples where policy makers will be able to drawn on the lessons from their own reform experiences and those of their counterparts in other core emerging markets. The book is organized as follows: (1) Provides a brief overview of the investment climate in each of the three countries, highlighting the key constraints identified by the national business communities, and explains the underlying concepts of the investment climate assessments and doing business indicators. (2) Examines the macroeconomic performance of Brazil, India, and South Africa and shows how the three countries perform with regard to taxation and foreign trade and exchange. (3) Reviews key microeconomic regulations, such as rules regarding the entry and exit of firms and labor regulations, and assesses the enforcement of contracts and regulations. (4) Studies the set of services, factors, and conditions that firms require when establishing operations and engaging in production and exchange, including access to finance, physical infrastructure, cost and availability of labor, and security. (5) Offers guidance on how to manage investment climate reforms by showcasing best-practice examples from recent reforms in Brazil, India, and South Africa.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Doing Business 2014 : Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-28)Eleventh in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2014 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2013, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.Publication Remarks to the Annual Meetings 2020 Development Committee(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-16)David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, announced that the Board approved a fast track approach to emergency health support programs that now covers 111 countries. Most projects are well advanced, with average disbursement upward of 40 percent. The goal is to take broad, fast action early. The operational framework presented back in June has positioned the Bank to help countries address immediate health threats and social and economic impacts and maintain our focus on long-term development. The Bank is making good progress toward the 15-month target of 160 billion dollars in surge financing. Much of it is for the poorest countries and will take the form of grants or low-rate, long-maturity loans. IFC, through the Global Health Platform, will be providing financing to vaccine manufacturers to foster expanded production of COVID-19 vaccines in both part 1 and 2 countries, providing production is reserved for emerging markets. The Development Committee holds a unique place in the international architecture. It is the only global forum in which the Governments of developed countries and the Governments of developing countries, creditor countries and borrower countries, come together to discuss development and the ‘net transfer of resources to developing countries.’ The current International Financial Architecture system is skewed in favor of the rich and creditor countries. It is important that all voices are heard, so Malpass urged the Ministers of developing countries to use their voice and speak their minds today. Malpass urged consideration of how we can build a new approach to debt restructuring that allows for a fair relationship and balance between creditors and debtors. This will be critical in restoring growth in developing countries; and helping reverse the inequality.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.