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Business and Economics > Public Finance

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Strengthening Tax Governance Through Legal Design
Lydia E Sofrona
,
Christophe J Waerzeggers
, and
Brendan Crowley
Well-functioning tax systems anchor their governance arrangements in law. This paper develops an analytical framework from which the core legal principles for sound tax governance can be derived to inform the design of countries’ legal frameworks for administration and tax procedure. It then applies this analytical framework to derive key legal features that should be embedded in laws for tax administration—including additional considerations for semi-autonomous revenue authorities— and tax procedure, to ensure a balance between tax administration powers and adequate taxpayer protections.
Keywords:
Tax governance; tax law; tax administration; tax procedure; legal design; A. tax Governance; governance arrangement; design consideration; taxpayer relationship; Tax administration core functions; Taxpayer charter; Semi-autonomous revenue bodies
Cover IMF How To Notes
How to Implement Electronic Fiscal Reporting (Fiscalization)
José Maria Pires
,
Stephen Howlin
, and
Mr. Frank van Brunschot
To improve the management of tax compliance risks, tax administrations are increasingly seeking opportunities to enhance their access and use of data. For many years, there has been a worldwide trend to implement electronic fiscal reporting (also known as fiscalization) to achieve these aims. Fiscalization refers to the process of automated reporting of a taxpayer’s business activities to the tax administration. When implemented as an integral part of compliance risk management processes, fiscalization will contribute to an improvement in tax compliance by making it easier for taxpayers to voluntarily comply, and discouraging taxpayers who may choose to not report their business transactions. However, fiscalization alone will not address all tax compliance risks. This how-to note provides practical guidance about the case for fiscalization and implementation approaches, including good practices and practices to avoid in relation to the key dimensions of fiscalization: data collection, data analysis, integration with compliance risk management, consumer engagement, and implementation.
Keywords:
tax compliance; fiscalization; electronic fiscal devices; discouraging taxpayer; IMF Library; business activities; implementation approach; CRM processes; Tax administration core functions; Data collection; Fiscal reporting; Tax return filing compliance; Compliance risk management; Global
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Building Tax Capacity in Developing Countries
Juan Carlos Benitez
,
Mario Mansour
,
Miguel Pecho
, and
Charles Vellutini
Tax capacity—the policy, institutional, and technical capabilities to collect tax revenue—is part of a deeper process of state building that is essential for achieving the sustainable development goals. This Staff Discussion Note shows that developing countries have made some progress in revenue mobilization during the past decades. However, much more is needed. We find that a staggering 9 percentage-point increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio is feasible through a combination of tax system reform and institutional capacity building. Achieving this calls for a holistic and institution-based approach that focuses on improving policy, administration and legal implementation of core taxes. The note offers practical lessons and guidance, based on IMF capacity building experience in this area.
Keywords:
Taxation; development; institutions; tax capacity; building tax analysis capacity; tax Effort estimate; tax potential; analysis capacity; VAT revenue; Tax administration core functions; Value-added tax; Property tax; Tax law; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa; Middle East and Central Asia; Western Hemisphere; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Suriname: Technical Assistance Report-Medium-Term Macro-Fiscal Forecasting
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This technical assistance report on Suriname highlights medium-term macro-fiscal forecasting (MTFF). The Economic Affairs Department (EAD) recognizes the desirability of creating a new medium-term macro-fiscal forecasting framework. Existing technical capacity relating to forecasting among most EAD staff is at a basic level. Training, through hands-on exercises using Surinamese data, will play an important role in supporting the development and ultimate adoption of the MTFF. There are several risks to the project’s success, including regarding data quality and availability, as well as competing demands on EAD staff time. Limited data and weak relationships between predictors (economic activity) and fiscal variables would limit the forecast accuracy of the MTFF, though it would still allow for more rigorous and transparent projections than is current practice. Regarding staff time, it is understood that EAD staff have a strong interest in the development and usage of an MTFF, hopefully ensuring sufficient time by a core group of persons is devoted to receiving technical assistance support to develop the tool.
Keywords:
EAD staff; staff time; Suriname debt management office; EAD forecast; MFP staff; Macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts; Revenue forecasting; Caribbean
Cover Selected Issues Papers
Tax Revenue Growth and Formalization: Republic of Kosovo
Amanda Edwards
,
Ezgi O. Ozturk
, and
Selim Thaci
Among western Balkan countries, Kosovo had the largest growth in tax revenue in percent of GDP over 2021-22. While part of this strong performance could be explained by increased activity, surging inflation, and buoyance, a sizable part of it is related to increased formalization. This paper analyzes the extent to which tax revenue increases may have grown due to gains in formalization, both of workers and businesses, by applying a simple accounting framework to disentangle the sources of tax collection increases.
Keywords:
tax revenue; formalization; informal economy; value-added taxes; corporate income taxes; personal income taxes; tax revenue growth; tax revenue increase; research assistance; VAT revenue; title page; IMF staff calculation; Tax administration core functions; Personal income tax; Effective tax rate; Value-added tax
Cover IMF How To Notes
How to Evaluate Tax Expenditures
Sebastian Beer
,
Ms. Dora Benedek
,
Brian Erard
, and
Jan Loeprick
Governments use tax expenditures (TEs) to provide financial support or benefits to taxpayers. The budgetary impact of TEs can be similar to that of direct outlays: after the support is provided, less money is available to fund other government priorities. Systematic evaluations are needed to guide informed decision-mak¬ing and to avoid a situation where the narrative on the benefits of TEs is primarily driven by profiting stakeholders. By TE “evaluation,” this note refers to a process that seeks to systematically inform policymak¬ers on the desirability of introducing or maintaining specific tax benefits by gathering and analyzing avail¬able quantitative and qualitative information on their effects. Evaluation processes can be tailored to different levels of data availability and analytical capacity. An evaluation should focus on the policy objective of a TE and whether it effectively and efficiently contrib¬utes to that policy objective. Although important lessons can be learned from coun¬try practices in implementing increasingly ambitious evaluation processes, there is no single best-practice approach to replicate.
Keywords:
tax expenditures; cost-benefit assessment; public policy evaluation; sample evaluation; publication order; publication service; title page; post evaluation; Tax incentives; Compliance costs; Value-added tax; Global; East Asia
Cover Departmental Papers
Digitalization and Taxation in Asia
Ms. Era Dabla-Norris
,
Ruud de Mooij
,
Andrew Hodge
,
Jan Loeprick
,
Dinar Prihardini
,
Ms. Alpa Shah
,
Sebastian Beer
,
Sonja Davidovic
,
Arbind M Modi
, and
Fan Qi
Digitalization in Asia is pervasive, unique, and growing. It stands out by its sheer scale, with internet users far exceeding numbers in other regions. This facilitates e-commerce in markets that are large by international standards, supported by innovative payment systems and featuring major corporate players, including a number of large, home-grown, highly digitalized businesses (tech giants) that rival US multinational enterprises (MNEs) in size. Opportunity for future growth exists, as a significant population share remains unconnected.
Keywords:
reform option; tech giant; tax design; reform proposal; OECD-Inclusive Framework; Value-added tax; Corporate income tax; Income and capital gains taxes; Digitalization; Asia and Pacific; Global
Cover Departmental Papers
Taxing Multinationals in Europe
Ernesto Crivelli
,
Ruud A. de Mooij
,
J. E. J. De Vrijer
,
Mr. Shafik Hebous
, and
Mr. Alexander D Klemm
This paper aims to contribute to the European policy debate on corporate income tax reform in three ways. First, it takes a step back to review the performance of the CIT in Europe over the past several decades and the important role played by MNEs in European economies. Second, it analyses corporate tax spillovers in Europe with a focus on the channels and magnitudes of both profit shifting and CIT competition. Third, the paper examines the progress made in European CIT coordination and discusses reforms to strengthen the harmonization of corporate tax policies, in order to effectively reduce both tax competition and profit shifting.
Keywords:
Europe; International taxation; Corporate taxation; Multinational corporations; Corporate profits; Tax competition; MNE profits; revenue effect; EU code of conduct; effects of the CCCTB reform; profit shifting; Corporate income tax; Corporate taxes; Competition; Formula apportionment; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Local Currency Bond Markets Law Reform: A Methodology for Emerging Markets and Developing Economies
Wouter Bossu
,
Mr. Cory Hillier
, and
Mr. Wolfgang Bergthaler
Recent financial crises including the ongoing one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have consistently drawn attention to the need to strengthen the quality of public debt management in emerging markets and developing countries. Deeper and more efficient domestic government debt markets—being, a key segment of the LCBM for many emerging markets and developing economies—play a key role in reducing financial vulnerability to shocks and enable governments to finance critical economic and fiscal policy measures in response to them. Policymakers and international organizations have long recognized that developing and strengthening LCBMs is a key policy prescription to sound public debt management. Robust legal and regulatory frameworks are recognized as being critical building blocks for the structure, development and functioning of LCBMs. This Working Paper seeks to outline a strategically anchored methodology that can be applied to design, build and implement the legal and tax foundations for the development of LCBMs that would adequately address common challenges and impediments.
Keywords:
local currency bond markets; development; financial stability; legal and tax frameworks; WP; repurchase agreement; dematerialized securities; securities lending; settlement system; commercial paper; capital markets; tax treatment; law framework; tax law framework; Securities; Legal support in revenue administration; Tax law; Bonds; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Exploring Residual Profit Allocation
Sebastian Beer
,
Ruud A. de Mooij
,
Mr. Shafik Hebous
,
Mr. Michael Keen
, and
Ms. Li Liu
Schemes of residual profit allocation (RPA) tax multinationals by allocating their ‘routine’ profits to countries in which their activities take place and sharing their remaining ‘residual’ profit across countries on some formulaic basis. They have recently and rapidly come to prominence in policy discussions, yet almost nothing is known about their impact on revenue, investment and efficiency. This paper explores these issues, conceptually and empirically. It finds residual profits to be substantial, but concentrated in a relatively few MNEs, headquartered in few countries. The impact on tax revenue of reallocating excess profits under RPA, while adverse for investment hubs, appears beneficial for lower income countries even when the formula allocates by destination-based sales. The impact on investment incentives is ambiguous and specific both to countries and MNE groups; only if the rate of tax on routine profits is low does aggregate efficiency seem likely to increase.
Keywords:
WP; routine profits; capital stock; closed economy; cost function; earnings before interest and taxes; Residual Profit Allocation; International Corporate Taxation; Multinational Firms; profit shifting; residual profits; RPA scheme; purged profits; Marginal effective tax rate; Corporate income tax; Income; Stocks; Global