Discussion Paper

Assessing the tax performance of developing countries

von Haldenwang, Christian / Maksym Ivanyna
Discussion Paper (20/2010)

Bonn: German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)

ISBN: 978-3-88985-528-2
Price: 6 €

Some countries fail to ensure that their citizens and businesses make an appropriate contribution to the financing of public tasks. But not all countries with a low tax ratio automatically fall into this category. This paper presents an approach to assess the performance of developing countries’ tax systems based on aggregated data and country-specific information. Instead of defining general across-the-board criteria, the approach accounts for different development levels and other influencing factors, such as non-tax revenue and governance.