Reforms of Tax Systems in Transition Countries

Abstract

In the 15 years since the beginning of their transformation reforms, nearly all 27 post-socialist countries have adopted the three main taxes typical for a market economy, namely, personal income tax, corporate income tax, and value-added tax. However, there is great diversity in the detailed solutions, rates, deductions, allowances, and tax bases applied to taxes in these countries. Nevertheless, the basic prerequisite for the further enhancement of these systems has been met. In recent years, it has been possible to observe a clear tendency to broaden tax bases and reduce the top income tax rates. In spite of this, serious problems persist, as regards further improvement of the functioning of the system, increasing its transparency and homogeneity, and limiting implementation problems. For some countries, this is a very serious problem, particularly in connection with the so-called quasi-tax activity in the area of energy resources and the size of the informal economy. The paper also provides a short comparative analysis of the size of public revenues in a historical context – from the beginning of the transformation process to the beginning of the current millennium.