Despite recording double digit growth since 2000, Armenia's tax-to-GDP ratio has been fairly stable at about 14½ percent. This paper catalogues a range of factors that may account for Armenia's stubbornly for tax collection by benchmarking Armenia's tax-to-GDP against some comparator...

In the context of the current tax policy debate in the United States, this paper reviews and discusses some of the main recurrent themes, as well as some of the most important tax reform proposals put forward over the past two decades. It finds that although there seems to be widespread...

This paper studies an optimal tax problem for a small open economy where collecting taxes is costly. It is shown that, in the presence of collection costs modeled as an increasing function of the tax rate: (a) the standard rules of optimal commodity taxation (the Ramsey, the inverse elasticity,...

This paper discusses important tax policy issues facing developing countries today. It views tax policy from both the macroeconomic perspective, which focuses on broad questions such as the level and composition of tax revenue, and the microeconomic perspective, which focuses on certain design...

This paper discusses assessment of income on the basis of approximate indicators as opposed to conventional records. Such a method of assessment, known as presumptive income taxation, is widely used in many developing and industrial countries; however, it has been neglected in public finance...

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, ranking 146 out of 177 on the United Nations Human Development Index. The country has one of the lowest tax revenue-to-GDP ratios in the world (10.1 percent in 2005). To address these challenges, the authorities are requesting a...

The current cyclical upswing underscores the potential of the Polish economy with regard to EU accession and in the face of favorable global growth prospects. The current juncture offers good opportunities to lock in improved economic performance. Uncertainties remain regarding reducing the...

The Kyrgyz Republic is recovering from a deep political crisis. Agriculture, tourism, mining, and textile production will be important drivers of growth. Strong export-oriented growth and fiscal consolidation will help to reduce the current account deficit in the medium term. Executive Directors...

Moldova’s near-term outlook is aimed at slowing growth and receding inflation, but the deteriorating external environment and the fragile political situation poses significant downside risks. The main drivers of growth are private consumption, investment, and exports, fuelled by...