New Book: Robert Conrad

Evolutionary Tax Reform in Emerging Economies: an income-based approach

Robert Conrad

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This groundbreaking work offers a unique perspective on tax reform in developing nations. Conrad proposes a framework known as "Collection-Driven Taxation," which prioritizes individual taxpayers and leverages advanced payments to enhance compliance. The approach integrates various tax types, including income tax, value-added tax, excise tax, and tariffs, to create a flexible and adaptable system that can evolve over time.

SUMMARY

One approach to tax reform in emerging economies is developed in this text. The approach, labelled ‘Collection-Driven Taxation’ is based on three elements: the taxpayer is always the individual; compliance is enhanced by the extensive use of advanced payments; and suppliers of goods and services, other than the primary inputs of capital and labour, serve as advanced payment agents who withhold or collect advanced tax from individual taxpayers. Income taxation, valued added taxation, excise taxation, and tariffs are supplemented by small business taxation and natural resource contracts, where relevant, and are coordinated to develop an initial framework that can evolve through time based on experience, the economy’s level of development, administrative capacity, and public understanding. The intent is to enable the system to evolve through time via a series of piecemeal changes until the primary revenue source is the income tax.