This paper provides an overview of the key economic factors that shape tax policy reform in many high-income countries, developing countries, and/or transition economies. The paper describes and evaluates global and regional developments with respect to tax rates and revenue ratios over the last...

Tax authorities in several countries have intensified their surveillance of intercompany transfer pricing in recent years. This paper examines the legislative and administrative issues related to the treatment of intercompany transfer pricing for tax purposes. It reviews the existing...

This paper identifies tax factors in 21 developing countries that have an impact on foreign direct investment flows. It categorizes those factors into issues associated with tax coordination; tax rates and rate structures; and composition of the tax base. Recent actions by countries reveal no...

In recent years the level of taxation of many developing countries has changed dramatically over relatively short periods. These changes are too large and too sudden to attribute fully to a deterioration in tax administration or to changes in the traditional determinants of tax levels. The paper...

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that the economic activity in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is estimated to have slowed. Despite the use of the bump-up funds by some of the FSM’s four state governments to boost spending during FY2002, GDP is estimated to have grown...

The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) focuses on economic developments and policies. Fiscal and structural reforms are needed for the FSM to achieve self-sufficiency. The large government sector will be increasingly unsustainable given...

The staff report for the 2008 Article IV Consultation of the Federated States of Micronesia examines economic developments and policies. Growth could recover modestly in the near term as falling commodity prices boost real incomes and progress is made on spending unused compact infrastructure...

This Selected Issues paper outlines economic developments in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) since independence in 1986, focusing on the challenges posed by dependence on foreign grants, and progress toward achieving budgetary self-reliance. Like most other Pacific islands, the RMI...

Vanuatu showed signs of a moderate rebound in economic activity owing to its good macroeconomic fundamentals and a supportive international community. Executive Directors encouraged the authorities to tighten monetary policy in response to rising inflation pressures. They emphasized the need to...

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), scattered across an area of nearly 1 million square miles in the Central Pacific, is heavily dependent on external grants. As in past consultations, the current discussions have focused on policies to put public finances on a secure footing and improve...