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Subnational Taxation in Large Emerging Countries: BRIC Plus One

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  • Richard M. Bird

    (Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance, University of Toronto)

Abstract

This paper reviews the evolution and current state of subnational taxation in five large emerging countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Nigeria—BRIC plus one. As these case studies show, intergovernmental fiscal relations in any country are inevitably both path-dependent and context-sensitive. In India and Brazil, for example, subnational governments already have a significant degree of fiscal autonomy in being able to set some key tax rates. In both countries, however, substantial attention still must be paid to improving the general consumption taxes that are the main source of regional government revenues as well as the property taxes on which local governments mainly depend. Although Nigeria, like India and Brazil, is a federation, its fiscal system depends so heavily on oil revenues that almost all political attention has been focused on securing a bigger share of these revenues. Both China and Russia have made important changes in the direction of centralizing rather than decentralizing effective control over subnational taxes. In both countries, the key issue is the extent to which fiscal decentralization is to be accompanied by significant political decentralization. At present, in neither China nor Russia is it clear that the central authorities are willing to permit subnational governments much autonomy in this respect.

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File URL: http://www.munkschool.utoronto.ca/imfg/uploads/185/bird_imfg_no._6_r5_online.pdf
File Function: First version, 2012
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by University of Toronto, Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance in its series IMFG Papers with number 06.

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Length: 50 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2012
Date of revision:
Publication status: Published in hard copy and online
Handle: RePEc:mfg:wpaper:06

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Web page: http://www.munkschool.utoronto.ca/imfg/
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Keywords: state and local taxation; intergovernmental fiscal relations; Brazil; Russia; India; China; Nigeria;

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  1. Richard M. Bird & Robert D. Ebel, 2005. "Subsidiarity, Solidarity, and Asymmetry," International Tax Program Papers 0509, International Tax Program, Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
  2. Aureo de Paula & Jose A. Scheinkman, 2009. "Value Added Taxes, Chain Effects and Informality," PIER Working Paper Archive 09-030, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
  3. Roy Bahl & Eunice Heredia-Ortiz & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Mark Rider, 2005. "India: Fiscal Condition of the States, International Experience,and Options for Reform: Volume 1," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper05141, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
  4. Facchini, Giovanni & Testa, Cecilia, 2008. "Fiscal decentralization, regional inequality and bail-outs: Lessons from Brazil's debt crisis," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 333-344, May.
  5. Chun-Yan Kuo & Thomas Mcgirr & Satya Poddar, 1988. "Measuring the Non-Neutralities of Sales and Excise Taxes in Canada," Development Discussion Papers 1988-08, JDI Executive Programs.
  6. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2002. "Asymmetric Federalism in Russia: Cure or Poison?," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0304, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
  7. Ebel, Robert D. & Yilmaz, Serdar, 2002. "On the measurement and impact of fiscal decentralization," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2809, The World Bank.
  8. Richard M. Bird & Sally Wallace, 2003. "Is It Really so Hard to Tax the Hard-to-Tax? The Context and Role of Presumptive Taxes," International Tax Program Papers 0307, International Tax Program, Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
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Cited by:
  1. Ignacio Lozano & María Adelaida Martínez, 2013. "Enrollment and quality levels of Colombia’s public basic education: Has fiscal decentralization improved them?," Borradores de Economia 747, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
  2. Richard M. Bird, 2008. "Tax Assignment Revisited," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0805, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.

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