Tax Revenue

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This paper has adopted a precedential approach by illustrating the approaches used by some developing countries in selected but similar regions with West Africa in solving their tax collection problems. This paper has also recommended some pathways to be walked by West African countries in order to considerably succumb the gravid challenges faced in the collection of taxes and mobilization of revenues. By adopting the recommended techniques, the immense efforts made by the governments of these countries in addressing the practical challenges facing their tax revenue collection can be duly compensated.

On August 23, 2018, Sebastián Piñera, president of Chile, with the general support of all political actors, sent to the Congress a Bill proposing a new tax, on the supply of digital services rendered by digital platforms. This Bill was introduced with a general objective, included in its title, to “modernize the Chilean tax system, intending to incorporate the best practices observed at the international level, as well as taking care of the challenges and particularities that technological advances imply, such as the digital and collaborative economy”.

Today, the influence of technology on the economy is not platitudinous and it has been deepened through the current Covid-19 crisis. In the same way, the tax administrations (TAs) of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have not been oblivious of this trend and have sought to adapt technological changes to the tax collection process. Within the world there are different levels of progress in the incorporation of digital services in TAs however, it is important to note that there is no universal solution for all countries, as there is also influence of the country's own conditions, for example, levels of evasion and informality, technological infrastructure, the behaviour of taxpayers, institutional capacity, etc.

As long as national tax systems develop in response to unique social and administrative pressures, jurisdictions will continue to rely on tax systems that exhibit at least as many differences as similarities. Tax harmonization represents the traditional answer to that entropic pressure, reflecting a confidence that nations can avoid international tax conflicts by becoming more like one another. Unfortunately, in part because many of the jurisdictions that populate today's international tax landscape have little in common, it seems that harmonization is no longer equal to the task. This Part introduces the concept of deharmonization, an alternative to harmonization that may be more robust.

Global value chains (GVCs), as a dominant form of capitalism today, have been a vehicle for entrenching the concentration of economic resources and power in the hands of multinational corporations. While COVID-19 compounded health and economic crisis, reports emerged that suppliers in the garment industry value chains have been facing mounting challenges as a result of unreasonable demands from big clients, mainly corporations in the United States and the United Kingdom.

While investment is not per se a current focus of our TVI, this present article discusses vulnerability concerns in an investment context utilising Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States as the point of departure. It concludes by discussing the ways these countries have sought and could seek to build resilience.

In the tax world, this is significant because businesses react to tax policy. Tax policy, in turn, stimulates the interest of both local and international investors who are the key drivers of economic growth. Therefore, the challenges of the economic downturn will be more glaring and significant for African countries, who have a greater reliance on tax revenue from large taxpayers than more advanced economies.