The Pay-as-You-Earn Tax on Wages: Options for Developing Countries and Countries in Transition

Abstract

The paper presents a comparative study of systems for withholding income tax on wages and identifies those that can be used in developing countries and countries in transition. The withholding system should be simple and reduce the need for return filing as much as possible. Collection of social security contributions should be combined with the withholding tax on income and assigned to the tax administration. The appendix presents summaries of the wage withholding systems in three developed countries, four developing countries, and two countries in transition.

JEL Classification: H21