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Middle East and Central Asia > Mauritania, Islamic Republic of

You are looking at 1 - 4 of 4 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies x
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Cover High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Report: Mauritania: Tax Policy Diagnostic
Grégoire Rota-Graziosi
,
Thomas Benninger
,
Jean-François Brun
,
Emilie Caldeira
, and
Fayçal Sawadogo
The IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department has been working with Mauritania on capacity building in tax policy. Mauritania has recently created a tax policy unit and adopted a new General Tax Code in 2019 with a corporate income tax and a semi-dual approach to personal income taxation. However, there is significant scope to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of income taxes, including due to the proliferation of wasteful tax exemptions. The fast urbanization also calls for a review of recurrent property taxation. The formalization of property rights requires a temporary suspension of the excessive registration fees. Consumption taxation can also be improved by broadening the tax base, for example, by abolishing regressive value-added tax exemptions or by imposing excise taxes on imported used vehicles. Finally, several recommendations aim to support the reform of the Mining Code, such as introducing some progressivity, prohibiting the negotiation of any tax parameters, and strengthening the principle of ring-fencing.
Keywords:
direct taxation; indirect taxation; CIT; VAT; property tax; mining taxation; tax credits; tax policy diagnostic; consumption taxation; IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department; regressive value-added tax exemption; mining tax regime; Income and capital gains taxes; Corporate income tax; Global
Cover High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
République Islamique de Mauritanie: Diagnostic des politiques d’atténuation du changement climatique
Diego Mesa Puyo
,
Zhiyong An
,
Thomas Benninger
, and
Nate Vernon
La Mauritanie a sollicité auprès du Département des finances publiques un renforcement de ses capacités en matière de taxation du carbone, de tarification des combustibles fossiles et d’aspects fiscaux du développement de l’hydrogène. Ceci est une synthèse générale de l’assistance technique et des recommandations fournies aux autorités. Le rapport évalue les possibilités d’introduire progressivement une taxe carbone afin d’amener le pays à respecter sa contribution déterminée au niveau national pour 2030 et son engagement de ne pas produire de gaz à effet de serre d’ici à 2050, avec un appui ciblé pour les ménages vulnérables. Il examine ensuite l’approche adoptée pour fixer le prix des combustibles fossiles et propose une méthodologie révisée mieux alignée sur les marchés pétroliers internationaux, ainsi qu’un mécanisme de lissage fiscalement neutre permettant d’atténuer l’impact des changements brusques de prix sur les consommateurs mauritaniens. Enfin, le rapport évalue les aspects fiscaux liés au développement de l’hydrogène à émissions faibles et à émissions nulles afin de s’assurer que le pays continue de se positionner comme une destination d’investissement attrayante sans renoncer à de futures sources de recettes.
Keywords:
Tarification du Carbone; Taxe Carbone; Politique Fiscale; Atténuation du Changement Climatique
Cover High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Climate Mitigation Policy Diagnostic
Diego Mesa Puyo
,
Zhiyong An
,
Thomas Benninger
, and
Nate Vernon
Mauritania requested capacity development from the Fiscal Affairs Department on carbon taxation, fossil fuel pricing and fiscal aspects of hydrogen development. This is a high-level summary of the technical assistant and the recommendations provided to the authorities. The report assesses options to gradually introduce a carbon tax to bring the country in line with its Nationally Determined Contribution for 2030 and net-zero pledge for 2050, including targeted support for vulnerable households. It then reviews approach to price fossil fuel products and proposes a revised methodology better aligned with international petroleum markets, along with a fiscally neutral smoothing mechanism to mitigate the impact of abrupt price changes on Mauritanian consumers. Finally, the report evaluates fiscal aspects related to the development of the low and zero-emissions hydrogen to ensure the country continues to position itself as an attractive investment destination without foregoing future revenue streams.
Keywords:
Carbon Pricing; Carbon Taxes; Fiscal Policy; Climate Mitigation; climate mitigation policy diagnostic; high-level summary; tax volatility; hydrogen development; price setting; Carbon tax; Fuel prices; Climate policy; Non-renewable resources
Cover IMF Working Papers
Personal Income Taxes in the Middle East and North Africa: Prospects and Possibilities
Mario Mansour
and
Eric M. Zolt
Personal income taxes (PITs) play little or no role in the Middle East and North Africa, often yielding less than 2 percent of GDP in revenue—with the exception of few North African countries. This paper examines how PITs have evolved in recent decades, and what they might look like in the next 20 years. Top marginal tax rates on labor and business income of individuals have declined substantially, a trend that mirrors reductions in advanced and developing economies. Taxation of passive capital income has changed very little, and the revenue intake from this source remains low throughout the region (less than 1 percent of GDP on average and concentrated in oil-importing non-fragile states). Social security contributions (SSC) have increased in importance in nearly all MENA countries, and some countries have introduced additional payroll taxes. The combination of reduced marginal tax rates, light taxation of income from capital and business activities, and increase of SSC, have resulted in income tax systems that create disincentives to work and incentives for informality, and contribute little to government revenue and income redistribution. Given differences in economic and political structures, demographics, and starting points, the path to PIT/SSC reforms will vary across the region. Countries with relatively mature PIT/SSC systems, where revenue performance has improved in the past two decades, will increasingly need to balance the revenue and equity objectives against effciency objectives (in particular labor market incentives and infromality). Countries with no PITs will have to weigh whether a consumption tax/SSC system that mimic a flat tax on labor income is sufficient to diversify revenue away from oil and whether to adopt PITs to address rising income and wealth inequality. Finally, fragile states, who face more political volatility and weaker fiscal institutions, will have to focus on simplicity of tax design and collection to be able to raise revenue from PITs.
Keywords:
Personal income taxes; social security contributions; payroll taxes; fragile and conflict states; Middle East and North Africa; Gulf-Cooperation Council; SSC reform; SSC system; revenue performance; PIT objective; PIT revenue; Personal income tax; Income tax systems; Income; Income and capital gains taxes; Corporate income tax; North Africa; Middle East; East Africa; Global