OECD examines ‘tax morale’ in developing countries

A new OECD report looks at factors influencing voluntary tax compliance, or ‘tax morale’, among individuals and businesses, particularly in developing countries. For multinational enterprises, the report suggests consistent application of international standards and effective systems of VAT and withholding tax are important contributors.

The data indicate that links between public service performance and tax morale are more complex than assumed. For example, tax morale goes up in Africa when taxpayers see improvements in public services, but the relationship is less clear in other regions, such as Latin America.

The report uses tax certainty data as a proxy to examine tax morale of multinational enterprises, for which little research has been carried out. This data highlights consistent application of international standards, and effective VAT and withholding tax systems as key concerns for these companies.

See ‘Tax Morale: What Drives People and Businesses to Pay Tax?’ (bit.ly/2mnGClx).