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Tax Incentives and Investment in the Eastern Caribbean

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  • Mr. Sebastian Sosa

Abstract

Tax incentives have been used extensively in the countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) to promote investment. The associated revenue losses are large, and benefits in terms of new investment have been limited, raising doubts about the cost effectiveness of the tax incentive schemes. This paper examines the effects of incentives using the marginal effective tax rate approach (METR), adapting this methodology to the case of a small open economy where the marginal investor is a nonresident. The results show that METRs are high in the region; that there is a large dispersion in the size of METRs across financing source; and that METRs on investment are larger than the overall distortion on capital, with a substantial subsidy to domestic saving. In the presence of tax holidays-the most common incentive scheme in the region-the distortion on capital basically vanishes.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. Sebastian Sosa, 2006. "Tax Incentives and Investment in the Eastern Caribbean," IMF Working Papers 2006/023, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2006/023
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    Cited by:

    1. Majid FESHARI & Ali AKBAR TAGHIPOUR & Mojtaba VALIBEIGI, 2016. "Tourism Demand And Tax Relationship In Islamic Regions," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(3), pages 99-106, December.
    2. International Monetary Fund, 2007. "Eastern Caribbean Currency Union: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2007/097, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Koffie Ben Nassar, 2008. "Corporate Income Tax Competition in the Caribbean," IMF Working Papers 2008/077, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Martin Bes & Daniel Alvarez-Estrada, 2013. "Promoting Growth in the Caribbean : Tax Incentives in Theory and in Practice [Promoción del crecimiento en el Caribe : incentivos fiscales en teoría y en la práctica]," World Bank Publications - Reports 16619, The World Bank Group.
    5. Majid FESHARI & Ali AKBAR TAGHIPOUR & Mojtaba VALIBEIGI, 2016. "Tourism Demand And Tax Relationship In Islamic Regions," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(3), pages 99-106, December.
    6. Koffie Ben Nassar & Mr. Joel Chiedu Okwuokei & Mike Li & Timothy Robinson & Mr. Saji Thomas, 2016. "National Insurance Scheme Reforms in the Caribbean," IMF Working Papers 2016/206, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Mr. Shaun K. Roache, 2006. "Domestic Investment and the Cost of Capital in the Caribbean," IMF Working Papers 2006/152, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Ms. Jingqing Chai & Rishi Goyal, 2008. "Tax Concessions and Foreign Direct Investment in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union," IMF Working Papers 2008/257, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Shaun K. Roache, 2006. "Domestic Investment and the Cost of Capital in the Caribbean," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 6(3).

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    Keywords

    WP; rate of return; tax system;
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