Monday, December 3, 2007

Nation Stands Amongst Top 30 Performers in Ease of Paying Taxes

Ethiopia ranked one of the best 30 nations in making tax payments easier amongst 178 world economies, the World Bank's latest report on ease of paying taxes released last month.

The country ranked at the 29 position out of the 178 economies treated in the freshly released report, beating a number of both developed and developing countries such as the United States, Sweden, Korea, South Africa, Kenya and China in ease of tax payments.

This ease of tax payments refers to the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures of administrative burden in paying taxes.

"Paying Taxes 2008" offers data on total tax rates, payment frequency, and the time needed to comply with tax regulations in 178 economies.

This year the top 10 economies for ease of paying taxes are Maldives, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), United Arab Emirates, Oman, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, New Zealand, and Kiribati respectively. The 10 economies which in contrast were found most difficult are, Panama, Jamaica, Mauritania, Bolivia, the Gambia, Venezuela, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ukraine, and Belarus ranking from 169 to 178 respectively.

This year, 31 economies improved their business tax systems, and 65 have done so over the past three years, the report indicated. Bulgaria was the top reformer, and Turkey was runner-up while Belarus was the least performer.

Tax reforms that make it easier for firms to pay taxes can increase government revenues by broadening the tax base, according to the report, dubbed Paying Taxes 2008, the second one in an annual series on tax systems. [Read More from all Africa News]

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