Forestry Taxation in Africa: The Case of Liberia

August 1, 2005

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Saji Thomas, and Arnim Schwidrowski. Forestry Taxation in Africa: The Case of Liberia, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2005) accessed September 21, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

Countries generally tax the forestry sector to achieve the twin objectives of revenue maximization and sustainability of logging levels. In an ideal world of perfect markets and information, auctions would be the best instrument to determine the price of extraction rights. However, a number of factors-including a lack of information on the forest resources under consideration, uncertainties as to the stability of property rights over time, and a lack of access to credit-have limited the use of auctions so far, particularly in low-income countries. To establish transparency of the forestry sector's financial flows, this paper discusses a radical simplification of Liberia's current timber tax structure, including a proposal to reduce the sector's current tax system to two instruments, an area tax and an export tax.

Subject: Agroindustries, Economic sectors, Environment, Exports, Forestry tax, International trade, Natural resources, Tariffs, Tax incentives, Taxes

Keywords: Africa, Agroindustries, Area tax, Exports, Fee, Firm, Forest contract, Forestry, Forestry sector, Forestry tax, Global, Government, Government auctions concession, Liberia, Natural resources, Processing firm, Revenue, Revenue collection, Sc, Tariffs, Tax arrangement, Taxation, Timber activity, Timber company, Timber sector, Timber tax structure, Timber taxation, West Africa, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

27
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2005/156
Stock No:

WPIEA2005156
ISBN:

9781451861754
ISSN:

1018-5941

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