Revenue Administration: Short-Term Measures to Increase Customs Revenue in Low-Income and Fragile Countries
Technical Notes and Manuals, April 4, 2019
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- Revenue Administration: Short-Term Measures to Increase Customs Revenue in Low-Income and Fragile Countries
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Gilles Montagnat-Rentier
- Published: April 4, 2019
- Series: Technical Notes and Manuals
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781498305617.005
Overview and Purpose
- Author: Gilles Montagnat-Rentier
- Date: April 4, 2019
- Purpose: Discuss administrative measures that can be implemented by customs administrations of low-income and fragile countries in a short period (about a year) to improve traders’ compliance and improve revenue collection.
- Context: Suggestions derived from IMF Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) technical assistance (TA), particularly TA missions to sub-Saharan African countries.
- Scope boundary: Focuses on targeted short-term actions that do not require mobilizing large resources or broad reorganization. Long-term reforms (e.g., modernizing human resource policies, achieving a fully automated environment) are not addressed.
Key Findings
- Short-term administrative measures can lead to noticeable improvement in revenue performance if implemented effectively.
- Experience from FAD TA missions to sub-Saharan Africa informs the suggested actions.
- Strengthening low-capacity customs administrations typically requires structural reforms to enable effective implementation of strategies.
- Examples of core operational functions that represent longer-term reforms include:
- Risk management
- Audit
- Investigation
- Intelligence
Recommended Short-Term Actions (themes emphasized)
- Targeted administrative changes aimed at increasing trade revenue within about a year.
- Actions chosen to be implementable without large resource mobilization or comprehensive reorganization.
- Intended stakeholders for action and collaboration:
- Country authorities
- Customs management
- Donors and TA partners
- Area departments of the IMF
- FAD
- IMF regional TA centers
Expected Outcomes
- Improved traders’ compliance.
- Improved revenue collection from international trade operations.
- Noticeable improvement of revenue performance when changes are implemented effectively.
Subjects and Keywords (as provided)
- Subjects: Customs administration core functions, Customs procedures, Duties, Imports, International trade, Revenue administration, Taxes, Valuation, origin and classification
- Keywords: Caribbean, clearance office, Compliance, customs administration, Customs administration core functions, customs agency, customs authority, customs declarant, customs declaration, customs duty, customs IT strategy, customs personnel, Customs procedures, customs regulation, customs territory, customs transit procedure, Duties, East Africa, Fragile Countries, Global, Imports, IT system, Low-Income Countries, origin and classification, Revenue, Sub-Saharan Africa, Taxes on International Trade, TNM, Valuation
Content in this bundle
- Introduction — TNMEA2019001