Maldives tops list for global tax payment ease, claims report

The Maldives has topped of the easiest countries in which to pay tax as a result of a narrower stream of revenue focused on tourism and hotels, claims a new report by analysts PricewaterhouseCoopers

The 2011 Paying Taxes study, jointly compiled with the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), found that the more simplified tax revenues of a smaller, hospitality-focused global economy like the Maldives have generally allowed for more effective means of raising government revenue.

PWC accepted that tourism and hospitality are sectors not included among the Doing Business indicators set out by both the IFC and World Bank as part of the basis for the report.

These indicators, which relate particularly to manufacturing economies, are devised to try and rank regulation and red tape that impact taxation and business process.

The report’s authors suggested that the findings are not a measure of the fiscal health of national economies or the provision of public services that may be supported by their tax revenue. However, the inclusion of the Maldives among the nations found to be the easiest to pay tax reflected the importance of keeping systems as “simple and clear” as possible to ensure quick and easy transactions, the authors claimed.

“Compliance with tax laws is important to keep the system working for all and to support the programmes and services that improve lives,” the report stated.

After the Maldives; Qatar, Hong Kong, China and Singapore filled out the report’s top five nations in terms of ease of tax payments. Ukraine, the Central African Republic and Belarus were labelled the three most difficult economies in which to deal with tax payments by the report, which ranked the countries 181st, 182nd and 183rd respectively.

The full report can be downloaded here.