Topic Guide: Tax Administration

Revenue administration covers the collection and management of domestic revenues such as taxes, customs duties, revenues earned from state-owned enterprises and other forms of revenues. Tax administration in particular is often perceived as one of the sectors most vulnerable to corruption due to complexity of tax laws, the high discretionary powers of tax officials and the low cost of punishment. Corruption undermines a country’s tax structure and its revenue collection capacity, resulting in significant loss of revenues and funding available for public service provision. Not only does it lower the tax to GDP ratio, but also causes long-term damage to the economy by increasing the size of the underground economy, distorting the tax structure, corroding the tax morality of taxpayers as well as eroding public trust in government institutions[1].