Georgia Among World’s 5 With Best Tax Reform

Georgia has been named as a striking example of successful tax revenue reforms, the International Monetary Fund’s new report, Balancing Act: Managing the Public Purse, says, Agenda reported. The report looks at successful reforms between 2004 and 2015 in five low-income and emerging market economies, which have achieved some of the largest revenue gains after tax reform, including Cambodia, Georgia, Guyana, Liberia and Ukraine. “We focus here mainly on Georgia. By analyzing what worked in that country we can draw lessons for what strategies other countries should consider”, the author of the report, Bernardin Akitoby, said. He believes that the main reason for the praise can be found in Georgia’s 2004 tax reform, which simplified the tax system, reducing rates and eliminating a series of minor local taxes that had been generating little revenue. The government also made it easier to pay taxes by introducing electronic measures, which has both improved efficiency and reduced opportunities for corruption.