One statement that can be made with certainty in any developing country like Albania or Serbia is that its tax administration should be improved. As does much conventional wisdom, this one hides some deeper truths. One truth about VAT is that many countries do not meet...
In Albania, today there is not a single power and strong leadership, which dictates the political life of the country and the progress towards economic development. Leadership of the new generation, belonging mostly to the middle class is taking its...
Most countries do not apply VAT to goods and services supplied by public sector bodies (including governments). The main reasons seem to be concerns about social and distributional issues. Surprisingly little effort has been made to assess the distortions and compliance, and administrative...
Do Americans really pay fewer taxes than Europeans? Contrary to conventional wisdom, the answer surprisingly is: not really. That’s because in return for their taxes, Europeans even those unemployed during these tough times have access to a generous support system for...
If the government implements a policy of balanced budget, but allows an increase in the deficit due to the inherited budget situation and in order to solve the invoice issued in the past about to pay obligations to its citizens,...
Civil society cannot solve the budget transparency and accountability problem alone. Ultimately, the solution is to build an oversight system, with civil society as one actor supported by effective media, legislatures and professionals. The core of public finances is that
Despite common misconception, the European Union does indeed allow member states to decide their own rates of VAT on a number of categories of goods and services. In 2009 the EU amended this Directive to allow all member states to permanently reduce...
When a country fails to pay its creditors on time, it is said to go into default, the national equivalent of going bankrupt. When a country goes bust, the pain is felt on very deep levels. The most basic systems and...
Since its creation, economists who are familiar with GDP and SNA methodology have emphasized that GDP is a measure of economic activity, not economic well-being. In 1934, Simon Kuznets, the chief architect of the United States national accounting system, cautioned against equating GDP growth...
Over the last decades, the lines between public and private, corporations and government have become uncertain, as more and more things that have traditionally been part of our commons, and controlled by the government, are being sold off to the...
