Saving Lives And Mobilizing Revenue

The Fund has long played a lead role in supporting developing countries’ efforts to improve their revenue mobilization. This paper draws on that experience to review issues and good practice, and to assess prospects in this key area.

This paper addresses core challenges that all tax administrations face in dealing with noncompliance—which are now receiving renewed attention. Long a priority in developing countries, assuring strong compliance has acquired greater priority in countries facing intensified revenue needs, and is critical for fairness and statebuilding. Series: Policy Papers

Public spending plays a key role in the economic growth and development of most developing economies. This book analyzes revenues, policy, and administration of Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) in developing countries. It provides a broad landscape of practical examples, drawing from lessons learned in World Bank operations across Global Practices over the past several decades. It should be thought of as a starting point for a more comprehensive research agenda rather than a complete inventory itself. This book reviews the trends in tax revenue collection in developing countries. It provides an overview of efforts to close the revenue gap, many of which have been supported by World Bank operations. The book reviews the special challenges facing low income countries, which have traditionally relied on indirect revenues in the context of limited formalization of their economies. An overview of tax policy and administration reform programs is presented, with an overview of outstanding issues that will shape the policy agenda in years ahead.

Over the past few decades, the concentration of wealth and property in the hands of a few has been facilitated by tax evasion, tax avoidance, and above all by tax competition. Fortunately, a determined move toward international cooperation among tax authorities is gathering its forces to do battle. This invaluable book shows how the globalization of trade, the digitization of the economy, tax competition between sovereign states, the erosion of the tax base, and the transfer of pro ts have all revealed the weaknesses of a traditional tax system that has reached its limits, and how numerous states and groups of states have joined efforts in creating a new international tax system designed to restore fairness and stability in the levying of taxes worldwide. Stemming from a 2016 conference initiated by the Canadian non-pro t organization TaxCOOP, convened by the World Bank and bringing together well-known taxation experts from prominent international organizations, the book presents outstanding contributions highlighting the impacts of tax competition and viable solutions. Among the issues and topics covered are the following: – electronic commerce and electronic money; – transfer pricing; – derivatives and hedge funds; – protecting tax whistle-blowers; – offshore tax investigations; – possibility of an international tax court; – impact of tax competition on developing countries; – carbon pricing; – tobacco taxation; and – effective taxation of the ultra-wealthy and their nancial capital. The chapters include details of country experiences and results, in some cases analyzed by key protagonists themselves. Collectively, the contributions take a giant step toward reinforcing the power of sovereign states in sectors such as the environment, education, and health. As an authoritative guide to increasing the level of transparency and accountability of private and public economic actors and restoring citizens’ trust in the fairness of our global governance systems, this peerless volume will be warmly welcomed by tax lawyers, taxation authorities, and interested academics worldwide.

Postal savings systems in Asian developing countries play a significant role in social and economic development. In many of these countries, and others around the world, postal savings and giro remittances are the only means of providing financial services to all segments of the population, particularly women, rural communities, and the urban poor. Postal savings in many countries also hold the largest share of individual and household savings among competing institutions. This book examines the postal financial systems of some twenty countries visited by the author, and also includes case studies by expert authors from different developing nations. Among the topics covered are savings product development, investing mobilized funds, receiving overseas remittances, and utilizing financial technology.

How can Low-Income Countries (LICs) enhance tax revenue collection to finance their vast development needs? We address this question by analyzing seven tax reform experiences in LICs (Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Maldives, Mauritania, Rwanda, Senegal, and Uganda). Three lessons stand out, although reforms must be tailored to individual circumstances: (i) Tax reforms require first and foremost political commitment and buy-in from key stakeholders; (ii) Countries that pursue both revenue administration and tax policy reforms tend to see much larger and persistent gains; and (iii) A successful strategy often starts with fiscal reform measures with immediate effect to build momentum. These can include: simplifying the tax system; curbing exemptions; reforming indirect taxes on goods and services (e.g., excises); and better managing compliance risks through strengthening taxpayer segmentation (often beginning with strengthening the Large Taxpayers Office). A comprehensive reform strategy (e.g., a medium-term revenue strategy) can help to properly sequence reform measures and facilitate their implementation.