Research Catalog

Title

The Guatemalan tax reform / Roy Bahl, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, and Sally Wallace.

Author

Bahl, Roy W.

Publication

Boulder, Colo. : Westview Press, 1996.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge.
• Wallace, Sally.

Description

viii, 160 pages; 24 cm

Summary

• Responding to a deepening economic crisis, serious structural problems with the tax system, a long and deep-seated opposition to even modest tax increases, and a weak tax administration, the Guatemalan government introduced a comprehensive tax reform program in 1992. In this concise volume, Roy Bahl, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, and sally Wallace review the data that supported the creation of the reform program and evaluate the first round of revenues and tax-burden effects.
• Focusing their theoretical and empirical analysis on revenue yield impacts, on effects of relative prices and relative tax treatment of different types of companies, and on the distribution of tax burdens by income class, the authors factor in individual and company income taxes, value-added tax, taxes on international trade, and property tax.
• In each case, they describe the existing tax system and evaluate it against the traditional norms; in addition, they analyze alternative structural reforms within the Guatemalan context.
• Comprehensive tax reforms in less developed countries are infrequent, and the Guatemalan experience provides a fascinating case study of how modern analytic techniques can be used by policymakers to formulate tax structure changes. The authors also draw contrasts with experiences in other countries and revisit many of the principles that have been laid down for guiding tax reforms in developing nations.

Subject

Taxation > Guatemala

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Contents

1. The Macroeconomic Setting for Tax Reform -- 2. Performance of the Pre-reform Tax System -- 3. Problems with the Guatemalan Tax System -- 4. Objectives and Approach -- 5. Individual Income Tax: Proposals and Reform -- 6. Company Income Tax: Proposals and Reform -- 7. Value-Added Tax and Other Taxes: Proposals and Reform -- 8. Impact of the Reform Program and Next Steps.

ISBN

0813389283 (alk. paper)

LCCN

96009319

OCLC

• 34887355
• ocm34887355

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries