Taxation in mini-states - experiences of Barbados, Belize and Gambia

This study has two aims. The first is to compare the tax experiences of three small states in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America; the second is to determine whether size makes a difference to a country's tax performance. The first section of the paper examines the comprehensiveness of the tax system, paying attention to the choice of individual taxes by the countries. Section 2 relates the particular basket of taxes to tax yields and analyze the responsiveness of taxes to changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP); (we also construct a tax concentration ratio for each country). Section 3 deals with the subject of tax effort using both the simple tax ratios as well as estimated ratios which take account of each country's economic structure and size. Finally, we comment on the policy implications of the pattern of taxation. (Papers are still in draft form and are subject to revision. Please do not quote or reproduce without the expressed permission of the author. Prepared for presentation to the CAAS and CALACS Conference held in Montreal, Canada, May 15-17, 1985)