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International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
This Technical Assistance Report presents the estimates of tax gaps for general sales tax (GST) and corporate income tax in Costa Rica. The estimated GST compliance gap in Costa Rica increased from 29 percent in 2012 to 31 percent in 2016. The compliance gap in 2016 was equivalent to 1.9 percent of GDP. The estimated compliance gap is higher than the average value-added tax compliance gaps of European countries and Latin American countries. Large GST compliance gaps relative to GDP are observed in manufacturing, trade, and hotels and restaurants. The estimated GST policy gaps were at about 4 percent of GDP from 2012 to 2016. Most of the GST policy gap consists of the GST expenditure gap, showing the effects of policy choices.
Junhyung Park
,
Mr. Sukhmani Bedi
,
S. M. Ali Abbas
, and
Mr. Alexander D Klemm
This paper assembles a new dataset on corporate income tax regimes in 50 emerging and developing economies over 1996-2007 and analyzes their impact on corporate tax revenues and domestic and foreign investment. It computes effective tax rates to take account of complicated special regimes, such as partial tax holidays, temporarily reduced rates and increased investment allowances. There is evidence of a partial race to the bottom: countries have been under pressure to lower tax rates in order to lure and boost investment. In the case of standard tax systems (i.e. tax rules applying under normal circumstances), the effective tax rate reductions have not been larger than those witnessed in advanced economies, and revenues have held up well over the sample period. However, a race to the bottom is evident among special regimes, most notably in the case of Africa, creating effectively a parallel tax system where rates have fallen to almost zero. Regression analysis reveals higher tax rates adversely affect domestic investment and FDI, but do raise revenues in the short-run.
Ms. Janet Gale Stotsky
and
Ms. Asegedech WoldeMariam
Central American tax systems are modern in their orientation, though there remains scope for beneficial reform. Value-added taxes are the mainstay of collections, but their performance varies. Income and property taxes remain relatively underused and should apply to higher income taxpayers more comprehensively. Tax reform needs to be mindful of global competition. Continuing improvement in administrative performance is also essential.
Mr. Parthasarathi Shome
From the mid-1980s to early 1990s, Latin American tax policy provided rich lessons for other reforming countries. Meaningful innovations led also to perceptible revenue gains. Later in the 1990s, tax policies began to drift. Shining examples of fundamental reform seemed to lose their luster. Revenue in terms of GDP also stagnated, partly reflecting over-reliance on consumption taxes and neglect of taxable capacity on incomes. The stagnation has been exacerbated by excessively simplified administrative practices. Based on these developments and on the limited taxability of internationally mobile capital, the paper anticipates a likely tax structure for the new century.
Mr. Parthasarathi Shome
Tax reform in Latin America during the 1980s emphasized broad-based, low-rate consumption taxes over steeply progressive income and property taxes, primarily to simplify the tax structure and facilitate tax administration. While tax reform need not necessarily raise tax-to-GDP ratios, countries that undertook tax reform experienced a higher revenue gain in terms of GDP relative to those that did not. Tax reform issues during the 1990s will include a minimum income tax, alternative corporate taxes (cash flow tax, assets tax), capturing difficult tax bases (financial intermediation, property), environment taxes, extending withholding as a taxing mechanism, and tax harmonization.