Tax at a Glance for ECA Countries

The tax-at-a-glance provides an overview of the tax policy and tax administration system as well as main trends in tax reform for each Europe and Central Asia (ECA) country. In the ECA region, two historic transitions since 1990 (a political transition from totalitarianism toward democracy and an economic transition from socialism toward free market systems) required a fundamental change in the role of the state, from controlling virtually all major economic assets to providing public goods and facilitating a largely privately-owned competitive economy. This change in the role of the state required a major downsizing and reorientation of public spending and a complete overhaul of tax policy and administration. Formidable challenges existed in setting up an efficient and fair tax system in ECA. First, voluntary compliance and self-filing, two important pillars in a modern tax system, were completely absent. Second, tax evasion reached a high level due to the inefficiency and weak management of the tax administration. Third, income was unevenly distributed within ECA countries. The economic and political power of rich taxpayers prevented tax reforms and this partially led to inefficient and unfair tax systems. Fourth, tax administration was very inefficient, with a poorly educated and poorly trained staff. Modern technologies had not been fully deployed in tax offices. Due to administrative and financial limitations, statistical and tax offices have difficulty in providing reliable statistics. Furthermore, low level of transparency in several tax administrations in ECA countries makes it harder to collect accurate information on tax performance. The poor quality of data often prevents policymakers and economists from assessing potential problems and challenges to existing tax systems.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: World Bank
Language:English
en_US
Published: Washington, DC 2013-09
Subjects:ACCOUNTING, ACCOUNTING RULES, ADDED TAX, AUDITS, BALANCE OF PAYMENTS, BALANCE SHEET, BANKING SECTOR, BANKING SYSTEM, BUDGET DEFICIT, BUSINESS CLIMATE, CAPITALIZATION, CASH TRANSACTIONS, CENTRAL BANK, CHECKS, COLLECTION PROCESSES, COMPLIANCE COST, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, CONSUMPTION TAX, CONSUMPTION TAXES, CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT, CORPORATE INCOME TAX, CURRENCY, CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT, CURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUS, DEBT, DEBT BURDENS, DEBT OBLIGATIONS, DEFICITS, DEMOCRACY, DEVALUATION, DIVIDEND, DIVIDEND INCOME, DIVIDENDS, DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS, DURABLE, ECONOMIC CRISIS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMIC RECOVERY, EFFECTIVE TAX RATES, EMERGING MARKET, EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES, ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES, EQUIPMENT, ESTATE TAX, EXCHANGE RATE, EXPENDITURE, EXPORT, EXPORT MARKETS, EXPORTS, EXTERNAL DEBT, EXTERNAL FINANCING, FINANCE CORPORATION, FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION, FINANCIAL CRISIS, FINANCIAL INSTABILITY, FINANCIAL MARKET, FINANCIAL SECTOR, FINANCIAL TRANSACTION, FISCAL CONSOLIDATION, FISCAL DEFICIT, FISCAL POLICY, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET, FRAUD, FUTURE GROWTH, GOVERNMENT ACTIONS, GOVERNMENT ASSETS, GOVERNMENT DEFICIT, GOVERNMENT FINANCE, GOVERNMENT FINANCING, GOVERNMENT REVENUE, GOVERNMENT REVENUES, GOVERNMENT SPENDING, GROWTH RATE, HEALTH SPENDING, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN RESOURCES, INCOME LEVELS, INDIRECT TAXATION, INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES, INFLATION, INFORMATION SYSTEM, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INSTRUMENT, INSURANCE, INTERNAL CONTROL, INTERNAL CONTROLS, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, INTERNATIONAL RESERVES, INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, INVESTMENT CLIMATE REFORMS, JUDGMENTS, LAND TAX, LEVY, LOAN, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, MACROECONOMIC CRISES, MACROECONOMIC POLICIES, MACROECONOMIC POLICY, MACROECONOMIC STABILITY, MARKET ECONOMY, MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES, MONETARY POLICY, NATIONAL CURRENCY, NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES, OUTPUT, OUTPUT GAP, PAYMENT SYSTEM, PAYROLL TAX, PERSONAL INCOME, PERSONAL INCOME TAX, PERSONAL INCOME TAXES, POLICY CREDIBILITY, POLITICAL POWER, PRIVATE CAPITAL, PRIVATE CAPITAL INFLOWS, PRIVATE INVESTMENT, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR GROWTH, PRIVATIZATION, PROPERTY TAX, PROPERTY TAXES, PROVISIONS, PUBLIC, PUBLIC DEBT, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, PUBLIC FINANCE, PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC FINANCES, PUBLIC GOODS, PUBLIC INVESTMENTS, PUBLIC SECTOR, PUBLIC SPENDING, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, REAL ESTATE, REFORM PROGRAM, REGISTRATION SYSTEM, REPAYMENT, RESERVE, RESERVES, REVENUE COLLECTION, REVENUE PERFORMANCE, RISK MANAGEMENT, SALES TAX, SALES TAXES, SHAREHOLDERS, SINGLE TAX, SMALL ENTERPRISES, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SUSTAINABLE GROWTH, TAX, TAX ADMINISTRATION, TAX AUDIT, TAX BASE, TAX BASES, TAX CODE, TAX COLLECTION, TAX COLLECTIONS, TAX COMPLIANCE, TAX COMPLIANCE COSTS, TAX CUTS, TAX EVASION, TAX EXPENDITURES, TAX FRAMEWORK, TAX INCREASES, TAX LAWS, TAX LEGISLATION, TAX OFFICES, TAX POLICIES, TAX POLICY, TAX RATE, TAX RATES, TAX REFORM, TAX REFORMS, TAX REGIME, TAX REVENUE, TAX REVENUES, TAX RULES, TAX SAVINGS, TAX STRUCTURE, TAX SYSTEM, TAX SYSTEMS, TAX WEDGE, TAXABLE INCOME, TAXATION, TAXPAYER, TAXPAYER COMPLIANCE, TAXPAYER SERVICES, TAXPAYERS, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, TRADING, TRANSACTION, TRANSPARENCY, TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE, TRUST FUND, TURNOVER, TURNOVER TAX, TURNOVER TAXES, VALUE ADDED TAX, WITHHOLDING TAX,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/09/19010009/tax-glance-eca-countries
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17566
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