Taiwan ranked ninth out of 40 economies that have improved the ease with which taxes can be paid in the past year, according to an annual study released yesterday that measured the payment of taxes in 183 economies around the world.
Steve Go, head of the tax and legal services department at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan, attributed the result to the government’s efforts to cut the Corporate Income Tax from 20 percent to 17 percent and streamline tax reporting procedures.
Taiwan and China were the only two Asian economies on the list of the 10 most improved countries in terms of ease of paying taxes, Go said.
Tunisia topped the list, according to the Paying Taxes 2011 report.
The report, which was jointly compiled by PwC, the World Bank and the International Finance Cooperation, measures the ease of paying taxes by assessing the administrative burden for companies to comply with tax regulations, and calculating companies’ total tax liability as a percentage of pre-tax profits.
“Taxes on company profits have fallen each year as governments around the world have reduced their corporate tax rates in an effort to encourage business investment and stimulate growth,” PwC UK’s Susan Symons said
The 2011 report concluded that nearly 60 percent of the world’s economies have made changes to their significant business regulatory framework to make it easier to pay taxes, despite the impact of the global financial crisis and the sluggish economic recovery.
Taiwan’s overall ranking for ease of tax payment stood at 87th, ahead of Japan at 112th and China at 114th.
However, Taiwan lagged far behind Hong Kong and Singapore, which ranked third and fourth, respectively.
PwC is a global professional services firm, headquartered in London, which provides insurance, tax and business consulting services.
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