Tax structures and size based tax policies: a cross-country database and comparative study
Abstract
We present preliminary results on how tax structures vary across countries and income levels. The data collected provides information on tax rates by income type but also on enforcement mechanisms (e.g. Large taxpayer units, auditing strategies) and design of the tax system (e.g. Alternative minimum taxes). An important goal is to cover all levels of economic development, in order to obtain an accurate picture of practices across income levels. We present descriptive results on large taxpayer units, corporate and alternative minimum taxes and the composition of the personal income tax. We observe that developing countries tend to rely on size based taxed policies instead of direct measures of a taxpayer's payment capacity. A story of information constraint evolving with development (Kleven, Kreiner and Saez 2012) can explain these policies.
Citation
Bachas, P.; Jensen, A. Tax structures and size based tax policies: a cross-country database and comparative study. International Growth Centre (IGC), London, UK (2016) 31 pp.
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