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The purpose of this note is to provide a framework for improving tax policy design in fragile and conflict-affected states, which face political and institutional constraints. This note begins with an overview of experiences in revenue mobilization in fragile states, including relative to other country groups—in particular, nonfragile states and formerly fragile states; that is, countries that exited fragility during the period under study. A discussion follows of how the principles of tax policy design should be applied in fragile states, particularly the relative importance of the revenue objective vis-à-vis other objectives, such as equity and efficiency. The two sections that follow provide guidance on tax policy design in the emergency and consolidation phases, respectively, and discuss how governments can use tax policy to transition from one phase to another, eventually overcoming fragility. The note concludes with key lessons and a set of guiding principles for tax reform in fragile states.

Business Taxes and Subsidies --- Consumption taxes --- Income tax --- Personal Finance -Taxation --- Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies --- Personal income tax --- Public finance & taxation --- Public Finance --- Revenue administration --- Revenue --- Spendings tax --- Tax administration and procedure --- Tax administration core functions --- Taxation --- Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General --- Taxes --- Value-added tax --- Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Personal income taxes (PITs) play little or no role in the Middle East and North Africa, often yielding less than 2 percent of GDP in revenue—with the exception of few North African countries. This paper examines how PITs have evolved in recent decades, and what they might look like in the next 20 years. Top marginal tax rates on labor and business income of individuals have declined substantially, a trend that mirrors reductions in advanced and developing economies. Taxation of passive capital income has changed very little, and the revenue intake from this source remains low throughout the region (less than 1 percent of GDP on average and concentrated in oil-importing non-fragile states). Social security contributions (SSC) have increased in importance in nearly all MENA countries, and some countries have introduced additional payroll taxes. The combination of reduced marginal tax rates, light taxation of income from capital and business activities, and increase of SSC, have resulted in income tax systems that create disincentives to work and incentives for informality, and contribute little to government revenue and income redistribution. Given differences in economic and political structures, demographics, and starting points, the path to PIT/SSC reforms will vary across the region. Countries with relatively mature PIT/SSC systems, where revenue performance has improved in the past two decades, will increasingly need to balance the revenue and equity objectives against effciency objectives (in particular labor market incentives and infromality). Countries with no PITs will have to weigh whether a consumption tax/SSC system that mimic a flat tax on labor income is sufficient to diversify revenue away from oil and whether to adopt PITs to address rising income and wealth inequality. Finally, fragile states, who face more political volatility and weaker fiscal institutions, will have to focus on simplicity of tax design and collection to be able to raise revenue from PITs.

Macroeconomics --- Economics: General --- Personal Finance -Taxation --- Taxation --- Corporate Taxation --- Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General --- Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities --- Redistributive Effects --- Environmental Taxes and Subsidies --- Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies --- Aggregate Factor Income Distribution --- Business Taxes and Subsidies --- Economic & financial crises & disasters --- Economics of specific sectors --- Public finance & taxation --- Corporate & business tax --- Welfare & benefit systems --- Personal income tax --- Taxes --- Income tax systems --- Income --- National accounts --- Income and capital gains taxes --- Corporate income tax --- Currency crises --- Informal sector --- Economics --- Income tax --- Corporations --- Social security --- Tax administration and procedure --- Morocco

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We review the current state of the West African Economic and Monetary Union’s tax coordination framework, against the main objectives of the WAEMU Treaty of 1994: reduce distortions to intra-community trade, and mobilize domestic tax revenue. The process of tax coordination in WAEMU is one of the most advanced in the world—de jure at least—, but remains in many areas ineffective de facto. Nevertheless, the framework has, to some extent, succeeded in converging tax systems, particularly statutory tax rates, and may have contributed to improving revenue mobilisation. Important lessons can be drawn from the WAEMU experience, particularly in terms of whether coordination should take the form of harmonization through a top-down approach, or a softer approach of sharing best practice and limiting certain types of tax competition.

Côte d'Ivoire --- Public Finance --- Taxation --- Corporate Taxation --- International Taxation --- Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth --- Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General --- Business Taxes and Subsidies --- Public finance & taxation --- Corporate & business tax --- Excise taxes --- Corporate income tax --- Revenue administration --- Tax coordination --- Value-added tax --- Tax incentives --- Taxes --- Excises --- Corporations --- Revenue --- Double taxation --- Spendings tax --- Excise tax

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Fighting the obesity epidemic has so far proven a difficult challenge, given the diversity of natural and processed foods, the complexity of food supply chains, and the fact that targeting excessive caloric consumption is far trickier than reducing overall consumption (as for tobacco). Nevertheless, efforts to curb caloric intake are gearing up and the experience from tobacco control has drawn much attention on a potential role for excise taxes in fighting obesity. Many related questions have therefore been raised as part of the IMF’s capacity development work: Should excises on unhealthy food be used to fight obesity? If so, under what conditions? What are the product and market characteristics that would help identify the relevant tax bases and the rates at which to tax them? While acknowledging that the scientific evidence keeps evolving, this note summarizes the ongoing debate and practice on food excises and on their potential role as a policy tool to fight the obesity epidemic, with a view to assist policymakers in deciding whether to go forward, and if so, how.How to Apply Excise Taxes to Fight Obesity.

Taxation. --- Fiscal policy. --- Agricultural commodities --- Agriculture: General --- Alcohol --- Business Taxes and Subsidies --- Commodities --- Consumption --- Currency crises --- Economic sectors --- Economics of specific sectors --- Economics --- Economics: General --- Excise tax --- Excise taxes --- Excises --- Farm produce --- Foreign Exchange --- Health Behavior --- Health economics --- Health Policy --- Health systems & services --- Health --- Health: General --- Health: Government Policy --- Informal Economy --- Informal sector --- Investment & securities --- Investments: Commodities --- Macroeconomics --- Macroeconomics: Consumption --- National accounts --- Public finance & taxation --- Public Health --- Regulation --- Saving --- Spendings tax --- Tax Law --- Taxation and Subsidies: Other --- Taxation --- Taxes --- Underground Econom --- Value-added tax --- Wealth --- United States

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La quête d'égalité et d'équité — et ce que peuvent faire les gouvernements pour la satisfaire — est au cœur du débat économique et social dans le monde entier. Dans la région du Moyen-Orient et de l'Afrique du Nord (MOAN), ce thème revêt une signification particulière, mais n'a pas été suffisamment traité. Cette note de réflexion étudie le rôle que peuvent jouer les régimes fiscaux, interfaces essentielles entre les États et leurs citoyens, pour répondre aux exigences de plus grande équité économique dans les pays de la région MOAN. Elle conclut que dans les pays qui ont des régimes fiscaux bien établis ne reposant pas sur les hydrocarbures (principalement des pays importateurs de pétrole), les réformes devraient viser en priorité à simplifier la structure de la fiscalité et à introduire une plus grande progressivité de l'impôt sur le revenu, à élargir la base d'imposition, et à améliorer la conception et l'application des taxes foncières. L'administration fiscale devrait être plus efficace et conviviale. La simplification des régimes fiscaux réduirait le risque de traitement arbitraire. Les pays de la région MOAN dont les recettes fiscales hors hydrocarbures sont moins développées pourraient commencer par introduire une TVA et un impôt sur le revenu des sociétés à faible taux, instaurer des taxes foncières et des droits d'accises, et renforcer leurs capacités administratives et leur expertise fiscale, tout en établissant des plans pour l'introduction d'un impôt sur le revenu des personnes physiques. Dans toute la région, la réussite de ces réformes nécessitera d'assurer une communication efficace et transparente, et d'entretenir un dialogue constructif entre l'État et les citoyens.

Personal Finance -Taxation --- Public Finance --- Taxation --- Corporate Taxation --- Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement --- Fiscal Policy --- International Relations and International Political Economy: Other --- Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General --- Taxation and Subsidies: Incidence --- Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies --- Business Taxes and Subsidies --- Tax Evasion and Avoidance --- Public finance & taxation --- Corporate & business tax --- Revenue administration --- Income and capital gains taxes --- Personal income tax --- Corporate income tax --- Value-added tax --- Revenue --- Income tax --- Corporations --- Spendings tax --- Tunisia