IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/
MyIDEAS: Log in (now much improved!) to save this paper

Tax Evasion, Tax Avoidance and Development Finance

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Alex Cobham (QEH)

Abstract

Domestic revenue mobilisation is key to sustainable development finance - only self-sufficiency will allow the development of fully-functioning states with flourishing systems of political representation and economies reflecting societies' expressed preferences in regard to, for example, inequality. Tax evasion and tax avoidance are important insofar as they affect both the volume and nature of government finances. This paper estimates the total cost to developing countries of these leakages as US$385 billion annually, dwarfing any potential increase in aid. An additional result suggests that doubling aid to low income countries may have little positive revenue effect but damage the strength of political representation, if full trade liberalisation is simultaneously required.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www3.qeh.ox.ac.uk/RePEc/qeh/qehwps/qehwps129.pdf
Download Restriction: no

Paper provided by Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford in its series QEH Working Papers with number qehwps129.

as
in new window

Length:
Date of creation:
Handle: RePEc:qeh:qehwps:qehwps129
Contact details of provider: Postal:
Queen Elizabeth House 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB United Kingdom

Phone: +44 (1865) 281800
Fax: +44 (1865) 281801
Web page: http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/
Email:


More information through EDIRC

Keywords:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

as
in new window


  1. Emran, M. Shahe & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2005. "On selective indirect tax reform in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 599-623, April.
  2. Pallage, Stephane & Robe, Michel A, 2001. "Foreign Aid and the Business Cycle," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 641-672, November.
  3. Friedrich Schneider, 2005. "Shadow Economies of 145 Countries all over the World: What Do We Really Know?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2005-13, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
  4. Robert Lensink & Oliver Morrissey, 2000. "Aid instability as a measure of uncertainty and the positive impact of aid on growth," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 31-49.
  5. Alkire, Sabina, 2002. "Dimensions of Human Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 181-205, February.
  6. Richard M. Bird, 2005. "Value-Added Taxes in Developing and Transitional Countries: Lessons and Questions," International Tax Program Papers 0505, International Tax Program, Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
  7. Baunsgaard, Thomas & Keen, Michael, 2010. "Tax revenue and (or?) trade liberalization," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 563-577, October.
  8. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2001. "Mexico: An Evaluation of the Main Features of the Tax System," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0112, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
  9. Howell H Zee, 2005. "Personal Income Tax Reform; Concepts, Issues, and Comparative Country Developments," IMF Working Papers 05/87, International Monetary Fund.
  10. Ross, Michael L., 2004. "Does Taxation Lead to Representation?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(02), pages 229-249, April.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.

as
in new window


Cited by:

  1. Jayati Ghosh, 2007. "Macroeconomics and Growth Policies," Policy Notes 2, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
  2. European Commission, 2011. "Tax Reforms in EU Member States 2011: tax policy challenges for economic growth and fiscal sustainability," Taxation Papers 28, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
  3. Ortiz, Isabel, & Cummins, Matthew. & Karunanethy, Kalaivani., 2015. "Fiscal space for social protection : options to expand social investments in 187 countries," ILO Working Papers 994877663402676, International Labour Organization.
  4. Jozef Pacolet & Joris Vanormelingen, 2015. "Illicit Financial Flows: concepts and first macro estimates for Belgium and its 18 preferred partner countries," BeFinD Working Papers 0110, University of Namur, Department of Economics.
  5. Santiago Tobón Zapata & Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mora, 2013. "Impuesto predial y desarrollo económico. Aproximación a la relación entre el impuesto predial y la inversión de los municipios de Antioquia," REVISTA ECOS DE ECONOMÍA, UNIVERSIDAD EAFIT, June.
  6. Ramón E. López & Eugenio Figueroa, 2011. "Fiscal policy in Chile: Hindering sustainable development by favoring myopic growth," Working Papers wp346, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
  7. Bethencourt, Carlos & Kunze, Lars, 2013. "Tax evasion, social norms and economic growth," MPRA Paper 48427, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  8. Shari Spiegel, 2007. "Macroeconomics and Growth Policies," Policy Notes 1, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
  9. Ali, Merima & Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge & Sjursen, Ingrid Hoem, 2014. "To Pay or Not to Pay? Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Taxation in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 828-842.
  10. Nikopour, Hesam & Shah Habibullah, Muzafar, 2010. "Shadow Economy and Poverty," MPRA Paper 23599, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  11. Alex Reuben Kira, 2017. "An Evaluation of Governments’ Initiatives in Enhancing Small Taxpayers’ Voluntary Tax Compliance in Developing Countries," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 7(1), pages 253-267, January.

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Access and download statistics

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:qeh:qehwps:qehwps129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Rachel Crawford)

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis using RePEc data.