Figure 16. Index of Financial Reform (countries with best and worst indices in 1999) Argentina
Bolivia
Jamaica
Dominican Republic
Mexico
Regional Average
El Salvador
Ecuador
Venezuela
1999
Guatemala
1985
Brazil 0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Progress has not been so deep in the other areas. Due to the heterogeneity of some aspects of tax structures in the countries17 and the different needs for tax resources in different countries (for historic reasons or because of the existence of other sources of tax revenue), it is difficult to make progress in this index comparable to those in trade and financial policies. The main room for future progress lies in making collection more effective and in broadening the bases of some taxes, which in some countries may also make it possible to reduce current tax rates. The countries with the highest tax reform indices (Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guatemala and Brazil) have levels that are no higher than 0.6, whereas the cases with the least progress in this area (Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru) have very low indices, between 0.3 and 0.41 (see Figure 17).
17
For example, in terms of the highest personal income tax, the highest level is 73 percent (Dominican Republic in the 1980s) and the lowest is 0 percent (Paraguay and Uruguay currently), while the mode is 30 percent.
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