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VAT: A Possible New Revenue Source for MENA Economies ?
1-2 June 2010 - Manama, Bahrain
With over 150 countries in the world currently relying on value added taxes (VAT) to generate fiscal revenue, a number of MENA countries -- particularly in the Gulf -- are now exploring the possibility of implementing VAT in their jurisdictions.
The 5th meeting of MENA-OECD Investment Programme’s Working Group on Taxation, held on 1-2 June 2010 in Manama, Bahrain brought together over 60 senior experts from thirteen countries to discuss the tax policy and tax administration consequences of introducing a VAT, and specifically to consider the design and implementation of a VAT in GCC countries.
To help determine the most appropriate system for MENA economies, the meeting examined the different models of VAT that are applied throughout the world. The EU form of VAT, while widely employed, has an average standard rate across the 27 Member states of close to 20%, with some countries having a rate up to 25%. At the same time, it also tends to have a multiplicity of reduced rates that make for increased complexity and higher compliance costs for business. For this reason, Working Group experts pointed to VAT as applied in Singapore and Switzerland as a potentially more appropriate model for GCC countries
Meeting Documents
Presentations
Session I. Basic operation and elements of a VAT
- VAT, A Possible Revenue Source for MENA Countries
David Holmes, Head, Consumption Taxes Unit, Tax Policy and Statistics Division, OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA)
Session II. Main VAT administration issues
- Main VAT Administration Issues
Claudio Fischer, Head of Tax Legislation, Swiss Federal Department of Finance - VAT Sytems in Turkey
Timur Cakmak, Head, Department of EU and Foreign Affairs, Turkish Revenue Administration
Session III. GCC VAT proposal
- Egypt VAT Proposals
Amr El Monayer, Assistant Deputy Minister for Tax Policy, Egyptian Ministry of Finance - VAT Design and Administration Issues - Vat Treatment of Specific Issues
Claudio Fischer, Head of Tax Legislation, Swiss Federal Department of Finance
Session IV. Taxation, innovation and training
- Taxation, Innovation and Training
Steven Clark, Head, Corporate Tax and Global Relations Unit, Tax Policy and Statistics Division
OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA)
Session V. Other VAT design and administration issues
- VAT - Compliance Strategies
David Holmes, Head, Consumption Taxes Unit, Tax Policy and Statistics Division, OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) - VAT, The Tunisian Experience (Arabic)
Fathia Cherif, Directeur Excécutif, Ministère des Finances, Tunisie
Session VI. Roundtable discussion of the GCC VAT proposal
- VAT in GCC - Facts and Lesson
Tarek Ghalwash, Senior Economics Researcher, Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research
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