In this paper we analyze the hard-to-tax, asking the basic question: Why should the HTT matter to policy makers? We begin in Section Two by attempting to identify both the HTT and the main parameters of the problem. Section Three examines some of the impacts of the hard-to-tax, looking at...

Although corruption and tax evasion are distinct and separate problems, they can easily become intertwined and reinforcing. A society that is more corrupt may enable more tax evasion as corrupt officials seek more income via bribes; conversely, higher levels of tax evasion may drive corruption...

It is hard for tax administrations to levy and collect taxes anywhere and anytime. However, taxing certain kinds of activities, sectors, or individuals – the so-called “informal sector” – is an additional challenge for tax administrations in both developing and developed countries, and...

Individuals in most all countries face a wide range of direct taxes on their income, especially variants of the individual income tax (IIT) and payroll taxes. For the IIT, attempts are often made to reduce the compliance and administrative costs of the tax (among other reasons) by using...

The Pakistan system of taxing enterprises has undergone some major changes in recent years. Nevertheless, the corporate tax system remains plagued by a number of problems. The existence of numerous exemption programs has significantly reduced tax revenues, and has greatly distorted the...

The design of any system of transfers is a complex matter, and in practice very few countries are able to get it right, especially at the start of a process of decentralized system of finance. It is quite obvious that South Africa has made great strides in the design of its transfer system,...

Fiscal decentralization reform, the reform of fiscal relations between different levels of government, is an important fiscal policy issue in many African countries. While for many African nations the decentralized delivery of government goods and services is a relatively new concept, the issue...

Indonesia is engaged in an unprecedented major social and economic experiment in which much authority and responsibility for its governmental expenditures are being decentralized from the national government, largely to the local government level rather than the provincial government level. From...

The use of expenditure needs, sometimes referred to as "expenditure norms", "budgetary norms", or "minimum standards", is important in the formulation of budgets and, especially, in the establishment of transfer and grant formulae. Minimum standards are also used by central governments to...

Jamaica’s individual income tax is an important revenue source for the Government. In 2003-04, the PAYE portion of the tax generated $27 billion, about 22 percent of Government tax revenue and equivalent to about 6.5 percent of GDP. The self-employed pay less than $2 billion in income tax, or...