How have tax systems, whose primary role is to raise resources to finance public expenditures, evolved in the transition countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union? Mitra and Stern find that: (1) the ratio of tax revenue-to-GDP decreased largely due to a fall in revenue from corporate income tax; (2) the fall in revenue from the corporate income tax led to a decline in the importance of income taxes, notwithstanding a rise in the share of individual income tax; (3) social security contributions together with payroll taxes became less important in the Commonwealth of Independent States; and (4) domestic indirect taxes gained in importance in overall tax revenues. Apart from the increased role of personal income taxation, these developments go in a direction opposite to those observed in poor countries as they get richer. They show a key aspect of transition, namely a movement from a system where the government exercised a preeminent claim on output and income before citizens had access to the remainder, to one with a greatly diminished role for the public sector, as reflected in a lower ratio of public expenditure to GDP, where the government needs to collect revenue in order to spend. Can expected levels of public expenditure be financed by the basic instruments of a modern tax system without creating significant distortions in the private sector? The authors suggest that transition countries, depending on their stage of development, should aim for a tax revenue-to-GDP ratio in the range of 22 to 31 percent, comprising value-added tax (6 to 7 percent), excises (2 to 3 percent), income tax (6 to 9 percent), social security contribution together with payroll tax (6 to 10 percent), and other taxes such as on trade and on property (2 percent). The authors' analysis also sheds light on the links between tax policy, tax administration, and the investment climate in transition countries. This paper - a joint product of the Office of the Regional Vice President, Europe and Central Asia Region and the Office of the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Development Economics - is part of a larger effort in the Bank on the subject of transition meets development.

In economic terms three of the most important and controversial issues of our times are transition, taxation and the role of the state. This book examines the core associated problems of tax payment and collection in the context of transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy and the persistence of the 'soft budget' constraint. While differences between the experiences of transition states vary, the attitude of the state towards the control of the tax discipline, its efficiency and vulnerability to corruption is shown to be a key issue, in particular when political constraints are often more pressing than tax design or economic constraints. Transition, Taxation and the State will prove detailed and enlightening reading for all those concerned with tax administration in transition countries from both economic and political perspectives.

The transition from a command to a market economy requires profound reforms of the tax system. Such a transition will put downward pressures on the level of taxation at a time when public expenditure remains high. This paper outlines the main characteristics of the tax systems in centrally-planned economies. It describes recent changes in those tax systems. Finally, it discusses the major difficulties that will be faced, and the errors that must be avoided, during the transition.

The transition from a command to a market economy requires profound reforms of the tax system. Such a transition will put downward pressures on the level of taxation at a time when public expenditure remains high. This paper outlines the main characteristics of the tax systems in centrally-planned economies. It describes recent changes in those tax systems. Finally, it discusses the major difficulties that will be faced, and the errors that must be avoided, during the transition.

The paper discusses the Value Added Tax, Personal Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax and excise tax in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Kyrgyz Republic. It could be argued that the countries of Central Europe are more advanced in their reforms compared with the countries of the Former Soviet Union. In many cases the situation in the FSU still resembles the time of planned economy where enterprises function in an administratively regulated environment. It seems like a lot of political will is needed to overcome stagnancy and change the behavior of economic agents. The paper will concentrate mainly on the so-called state taxes and will not cover local taxes such as real estate and land tax. It will not cover the social insurance contributions and other types of payroll taxes, as they are beyond the scope of this paper. In the first part of the paper, I will try to compare the tax systems from the point of view of budget situation in the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, the Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, Russia, Ukraine. In the second part of the paper, some legislative regulations will be presented.

Over the past decade and a half we have seen how far countries can go in changing their economic and political system. Transition from central planning to market economy has been both difficult and challenging. Some countries have proceeded quite well but others are very far away. To ensure success of transition, countries will need to develop institutions that are necessary for private markets to operate successfully and establish a government which, will help the market economy to develop.

Building on the work carried out in the 2004 Routledge book, Tax Systems and Tax Reforms in Europe, an international team of contributors now turn their attention to the new EU member states. The book compares conditions in the new and potential EU Member states to those in the long-standing EU countries. Topics covered include: * A Comparative View of Taxation in the EU and in New Members * Tax Policy in EU New Members * Tax Policy in New Members under the Stability Pact * Tax Administration and the Black Economy. As well as investigating countries such as the Czech Republic, Estonia and the Baltics, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia, this outstanding book contains a foreword by Vito Tanzi and will be a valuable resource for postgraduates and professionals in the fields of economics, politics, finance and European studies.

Starting in the early 1990s, the Baltics, Russia, and other (BRO) countries of the former Soviet Union initiated tax reforms that varied widely at the later stages. Recently, some of the BRO countries, basing decisions on the proposition that lowering of the top marginal income tax rate would significantly benefit economic development and increase tax compliance, have initiated a new stage of tax reforms. This paper reviews country experiences and suggests that (i) overall, there seems to be little evidence of a substantial improvement in income tax revenues resulting simply from a reduction in the top marginal tax rates, and (ii) in the BRO countries, the elasticity of the behavior of economic agents, in terms of labor supply, saving, and investment, with respect to income tax rates is not large, and a reduction of the existing income tax rates is unlikely to lead to a notable expansion of economic activity.

This book details the context within which policy decisions and objectives for the property tax system are made in the transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe. It shows how these policy decisions evolve as a part of the transitional reforms still in process. This book offers the chance to review the experiences of transitional countries in initiating and implementing fiscal instruments during a decade of enormous transformations. The research for the case studies, included in this book, was sponsored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.