Measuring Efficiency and Productivity of Taxation: A Review of Tax System in Mozambique

Abstract

The review of Mozambique’s tax system highlights some key features. The country has established a solid legal framework for taxation. The overall tax intake is buoyant. The regime remains, however, in the process of transition. Tax burden on the corporate sector is relatively high compared with other SDAC countries. The complexity of tax regime, the mere existence of multiple schemes for small and medium taxpayers across tax codes, and the post 2009 overly generous system of fiscal incentives set in favor of certain types of investment, particularly capital-intensive, new mega projects—are among the few that collectively reflect the incoherence in the policy making spanning over the past decade. To set stage for policy recommendations for furthering the reforms of major taxes, this paper provides some estimates of productivity of CIT and VAT from regional perspectives. The analysis reconfirms the complexity and erosion of the base as a major channel for revenue leakage that more than compensating for the relatively high statutory rates in these taxes.

Keywords: Mozambique Tax System, Tax Productivity Measurement