Asian
Development Bank (ADB) is gearing up to launch an Asia-Pacific study to
generate fresh initiatives for taxation reforms in the countries of
this region.
To
be completed be completed by 30 June 2015, the Technical Assistance
(TA) project captioned ‘Tax Policy and Administration Research and
Capacity Development' would undertake comparative analysis of tax
administration in Asia and the Pacific.
According
to TA proposal prepared by ADB staff, “The report will gather data and
provide an initial analysis report of tax administration bodies'
regulatory frameworks, functions, and performance. Data will be
collected through survey forms to be completed by tax authorities.”
As
put by the TA project proposal: “Internationally comparable data and
information on benchmarks and good practices are essential to
formulating tax policy and tax administration reform options. But
comparative information on tax policy and administration in Asia and the
Pacific remains scarce despite growing demand from DMCs' revenue
authorities and international organizations.”
Another
objective of the study is to facilitate e mpirical analysis of tax
administration performance in Asia. The study will thus undertake
econometric estimations to evaluate countries' performance through a
cross-country analysis of data.
The
other objectives of the project include: Capacity development
activities for ministries of finance and tax administration officials of
countries participating in the project and generating tax revenue
statistics in Asia.
The
TA proposal says that t ax administration bodies of Brunei Darussalam;
Cambodia; Kyrgyz Republic; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Maldives;
Mongolia; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Taipei, China; Tajikistan; and
Thailand have already provided ADB with information on their tax
administration bodies' functions and performance. Moreover, the OECD has
collected and shared with ADB information on tax administration from
Australia; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; India;
Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; New Zealand; and
Singapore.
ADB
would undertake the study in cooperation with The OECD's Centre for Tax
Policy and Administration. It also intends to hire the services of four
international tax policy experts for the study.
The
study would pave the way for better designed tax policy and
administration, and increased tax revenue collection in participant
developing member countries. At least three countries would undertake
tax reforms on the basis of the study. The impact of these reforms is
expected to be available sometime by 2018.
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