This paper outlines the steps that the Government of Cyprus took to transform its tax system between 1990 and 2001 in order to prepare itself for admission into the European Union. Cyprus has many of the same economic features as the countries of the Caribbean and Central American regions. In...

Maintaining the proper equilibrium between centralized and localized fiscal management is a dilemma facing the low-income developing countries today. More decentralization is desirable in order to supply the right mix of public services that are needed by the diverse regions. At the same time,...

The Canadian government has tried almost every conceivable policy to assist declining firms, industries and regions. Such programs have included loans, grants, investment tax credits, special unemployment compensation, early retirement plans, employment tax credits and nationalization. The...

The Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in Singapore in 1994 as a major part of an overall tax reform package and with a strong political commitment to its implementation. As the Singaporean economy has many special features that make it difficult for a generic VAT to function well, such as a...

The strategy for economic growth and development in the Kyrgyz Republic stated in the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF) is to make the private sector the engine of growth. The CDF report also discusses mining, tourism and other export generating activities as well as domestic...

This article describes the indirect tax revenue simulation model developed for the Treasury Department of Puerto Rico. At the beginning, it delineates the model’s objectives and capabilities and details the array of tax policy measures and major modifications to the present tax system. It then...

Revenue collection requires the intensive exchange of financial information on economic transactions, revenues, expenditures, and incomes with a high degree of voluntary compliance. Furthermore, over the past 15 years the world has experienced a revolution in communication and information...

The system outline here is designed to make the maximum use of the great advances and cost savings arising in modern communication. Fax and electronic mail allow for almost instant communication at very low cost between Bolivia and almost every other country in the world. As a consequence, the...

In this paper an overview is made of the determinants of voluntary tax compliance. Unlike previous treatments of this subject, the cost of taxpayer compliance is considered as an important determinant of overall level of voluntary compliance in a country. A number of ways that tax authorities...

This report highlights the issues relevant to the process of transition to a revenue authority, and analyzed elements of the implementing legislation for this form of tax administration. A revenue authority’s capacity to improve tax collection is tied to the political and bureaucratic...