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Presumptive Taxation: Lessons from Bulgaria

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  • Konstantin Pashev

Abstract

This article draws on the experience of Bulgaria with two forms of presumptive taxes—the patent (licence) tax and the minimum social insurance income thresholds. It argues that there is an inevitable trade-off between efficiency and equity, which may drive presumptive taxation away from its initial objectives of simplicity and lower compliance and enforcement costs. Therefore presumptive taxes should not be overloaded with equity objectives, or used as tax incentives, but rather assigned to enhance collection efficiency and reduce the cost of voluntary tax compliance of the small business. The study concludes that their optimal use might be as licence taxes on micro-businesses and the self-employed levied by local governments rather than as central taxes on small business income.

Suggested Citation

  • Konstantin Pashev, 2006. "Presumptive Taxation: Lessons from Bulgaria," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 399-418.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:18:y:2006:i:4:p:399-418
    DOI: 10.1080/14631370601008456
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Godwin Dube & Daniela Casale, 2019. "Informal sector taxes and equity: Evidence from presumptive taxation in Zimbabwe," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(1), pages 47-66, January.
    2. Bíró, Anikó & Prinz, Dániel & Sándor, László, 2022. "The minimum wage, informal pay, and tax enforcement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    3. Leibfritz, Willi, 2011. "Undeclared economic activity in central and eastern Europe -- how taxes contribute and how countries respond to the problem," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5923, The World Bank.
    4. Munyaradzi Duve & Daniel P. Schutte, 2021. "A Critical Review of the Characteristics of Presumptive Tax Systems in Developing Countries," Theory Methodology Practice (TMP), Faculty of Economics, University of Miskolc, vol. 17(02), pages 27-43.
    5. repec:idq:ictduk:13663 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Konstantin Pashev, 2007. "Tax Decentralization: Solutions for Bulgaria," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 7, pages 67-88.
    7. Elek, Peter & Köllő, János & Reizer, Balázs & Szabó, Péter A., 2011. "Detecting Wage Under-reporting Using a Double Hurdle Model," IZA Discussion Papers 6224, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Tonin, Mirco, 2011. "Too Low to Be True: The Use of Minimum Thresholds to Fight Tax Evasion," IZA Discussion Papers 5509, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Bergner, Sören Martin & Bräutigam, Rainer & Evers, Maria Theresia & Spengel, Christoph, 2017. "The use of SME tax incentives in the European Union," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-006, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. János Köllö, 2010. "Hungary: The Consequences of Doubling the Minimum Wage," Chapters, in: Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead (ed.), The Minimum Wage Revisited in the Enlarged EU, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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