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Middle East and Central Asia > Mauritania, Islamic Republic of

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
The paper examines domestic revenue mobilization in Mauritania and proposes strategies to enhance tax revenue collection to address fiscal sustainability challenges and finance critical investment projects. Despite recent progress, Mauritania’s tax-to-GDP ratio remains below that of its peers, constrained by a complex legal framework, numerous derogatory tax regimes, and inefficiencies in revenue administration. The analysis indicates that Mauritania could increase tax revenues by up to 3.4% of GDP in the medium term, thus reducing its tax gap by one-third. Key policy recommendations include reducing VAT exemptions, replacing corporate tax exemptions with cost-based incentives, reforming the personal income tax system, broadening the consumption tax base, simplifying tax procedures, managing tax arrears more effectively, and strengthening tax compliance.
Keywords:
tax Potential; tax Effort in Mauritania; VAT revenue; revenue component; rates in Mauritania; Value-added tax; Corporate income tax; Tax administration core functions; Consumption taxes; Global
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
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 Selected Issues Papers
Nigeria’s Tax Revenue Mobilization: Lessons from Successful Revenue Reform Episodes: Nigeria
Il Jung
This paper has identified four episodes of large and sustained revenue mobilizations in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and found common lessons from the episodes. Although there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, we can find a tax reform path suitable to Nigeria’s circumstances. Based on these cross-country experiences, this paper recommends: (i) implementing a package reform of tax administration and tax policy measures; (ii) focusing mainly on indirect tax (VAT and excise) reforms and tax incentive rationalizations; (iii) undertaking tax administration measures for improving compliance by strengthening taxpayer segmentation and automation; and (iv) launching social dialogue with key stakeholders as well as high-level political commitment.
Keywords:
undertaking tax administration; tax revenue mobilization; package reform; Nigeria's tax reform; tax incentive rationalization; Excises; Value-added tax; Consumption taxes; Tax administration core functions; Sub-Saharan Africa
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
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Nigeria: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper presents stylized facts about food insecurity in Nigeria, investigates its drivers in a cross-country setting, and assesses the role of policies. The paper describes regional aspects of Nigeria’s food insecurity and compares the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 and the war in Ukraine on food security in Nigeria and other countries. It also provides an overview of agricultural production and consumption in Nigeria. The paper investigates the drivers of food security using an empirical cross-country framework including demand, supply, and price factors, and offers thoughts on policies to improve agricultural yields and production. The important role of inputs is evident in the policy experience of comparator countries. Nigeria has achieved a substantial increase in agricultural production associated with its policies but some have been less successful. Import dependency for key staples has not fallen and the cost of these agricultural products remains driven by international prices. Further, central bank credit to the agricultural sector has not succeeded in increasing production beyond the stimulus of high rainfall and high food prices.
Keywords:
EIU FOOD INSECURITY index; World wheat price inflation; tax revenue mobilization; food supply; fuel subsidy reform; food price inflation; Mobile banking; Financial inclusion; Food security; Excises; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Designing Fiscal Redistribution: The Role of Universal and Targeted Transfers
Mr. David Coady
and
Nghia-Piotr Le
There is a growing debate on the relative merits of universal and targeted social assistance transfers in achieving income redistribution objectives. While the benefits of targeting are clear, i.e., a larger poverty impact for a given transfer budget or lower fiscal cost for a given poverty impact, in practice targeting also comes with various costs, including incentive, administrative, social and political costs. The appropriate balance between targeted and universal transfers will therefore depend on how countries decide to trade-off these costs and benefits as well as on the potential for redistribution through taxes. This paper discusses the trade-offs that arise in different country contexts and the potential for strengthening fiscal redistribution in advanced and developing countries, including through expanding transfer coverage and progressive tax financing.
Keywords:
WP; income; cost; earned income; taxation framework; consumption taxation; transfer program; income tax schedule; efficiency cost; poverty impact; redistribution objective; means testing; income share; public spending; income redistribution objective; progressive tax; poverty line; Personal income; Income tax systems; Fiscal redistribution; Income inequality; Middle East; North Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Global; East Africa; transfers; taxes; targeted; universal; income transfer
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Optimal Turnover Threshold and Tax Rate for SMEs
Feng Wei
and
Jean-François Wen
Presumptive income taxes in the form of a tax on turnover for SMEs are pervasive as a way to reduce the costs of compliance and administration. We analyze a model where entrepreneurs allocate labor to the formal and informal sectors. Formal sector income is subjected either to a corporate income tax or a tax on turnover, depending on whether their turnover exceeds a threshold. We characterize the private sector equilibrium for any given configuration of tax policy parameters (corporate income tax rate, turnover tax rate, and threshold). Given private behavior, social welfare is optimized. We interpret the first-order conditions for welfare maximization to identify the key margins and then simulate a calibrated version of the model.
Keywords:
WP; tax rate; income tax; production function; Turnover Tax; Threshold; Corporate Income Tax; Tax Compliance; Informality; tax regimes firms choose; turnover tax rate; middle cost firm; profit-difference curve; presumptive regime; Sales tax; Presumptive tax; Compliance costs; Sub-Saharan Africa; Global
Cover Technical Notes and Manuals
Revenue Administration: Short-Term Measures to Increase Customs Revenue in Low-Income and Fragile Countries
Mr. Gilles Montagnat-Rentier
This note discusses administrative measures that can be implemented by customs administrations of low-income and fragile countries in a short period (about a year) to improve traders’ compliance and improve revenue collection. These suggested actions have been identified based on the experience acquired through the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Fiscal Affairs Department’s (FAD) technical assistance (TA), particularly the findings and recommendations of TA missions to sub-Saharan African countries. Strengthening low-capacity customs administrations requires structural reforms to support the effective implementation of defined strategies. Developing core operational functions such as risk management, audit, investigation and intelligence are good examples of such reforms. Modernizing human resource management policies or achieving a fully automated environment in a customs administration are longer-term reform projects. Long-term reforms are not addressed here. The note focuses on targeted actions with a potential to increase trade revenue in the short term, and which can be taken without mobilizing large resources or engaging in a broad reorganization. It is hoped that the suggestions in this note will help stakeholders, including country authorities, customs management, donors and TA partners, area departments of the IMF, FAD, and the IMF regional TA centers, identify, design, and implement short-term changes in customs administrations. If implemented effectively, these changes should contribute to a noticeable improvement of revenue performance.
Keywords:
TNM; customs administration; IT system; customs transit procedure; clearance office; customs declarant; customs territory; Revenue; Compliance; Taxes on International Trade; Low-Income Countries; Fragile Countries; customs declaration; customs duty; customs personnel; customs agency; customs authority; customs IT strategy; customs regulation; Customs administration core functions; Duties; Imports; Customs procedures; Valuation; origin and classification; Sub-Saharan Africa; East Africa; Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Mali: Technical Assistance Report-Mining Taxation: Modeling of Five Mining Operations
International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
This paper discusses Malian mining taxation. Mali’s industrial mining sector is predominantly gold mining, with six industrial mines currently active. Most of the mines are old, but some have substantial reserves; extensions are planned for the Syama, Morila, Kalama, Tabakoto-Segela, and Loulo-Gounkoto mines. The Fiscal Analysis for Resource Industries model was completed for five new projects with recent feasibility studies. The government revenue contributed by the five new projects is on the order of US$1.7 billion (constant dollars) over the next 10 years. The application of the 1999 or 2012 Mining Code increases the government’s share of income in comparison with the 1991 code.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; government; Malian government; tax data; internal rate of return; term; mining Code; production forecast; information from the Ministry of Finance; gold production; tax information; ad valorem tax; area taxation; Mining sector; Corporate income tax; Average effective tax rate; Gold