12 Countries With The Shortest Tax Paying Processes

Tax season is one of the busiest seasons in the calendar for most countries around the world. The complexity of the tax preparation, filing and payment make the season even more hectic. Before beginning a tax paying process, a taxpayer will need to have a few things in order. Some of the requirements in most countries will include income return form, tax identification number, social security number, a copy of past tax return, bank account number, statement of wages earned, and a copy of passport or identification number. Tax preparation can be done by an individual or by agents or companies licensed by the revenue authority. The amount of time taken for the process of paying tax varies from country to country. Some countries like Brazil and Bolivia take over 1000 hours to complete a tax paying process. However, there are countries where the process takes less than 100 hours. These countries include UAE, Qatar, San Marino, Luxembourg, Bahamas, Bahrain, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia among others.

12 Countries With The Shortest Tax Paying Processes

United Arab Emirates

UAE is credited for having one of the easiest tax systems in the whole world. Taxpayers processing their tax returns are always motivated by the short time it takes to pay tax. It takes only 12 hours in a year to complete the process of paying tax in UAE. The process of paying tax has been made easier and faster because there are no federal income tax laws for general businesses. Income tax laws are only enforced on foreign banks and oil companies. Currently, VAT does not apply in UAE, and there are no tax returns and filing made for goods and services that would otherwise charge VAT. Unlike Nigeria where there are three tiers of government where one has to pay their and file their tax returns. UAE has only one level (municipality) making the process even faster.

Qatar

The modernized Qatar Tax Administration System (TAS) has transformed tax administration in the country, and Qatar has made it mandatory for all tax returns, statement tax requests and appeals to be mad through TAS electronic system. The intention is to eliminate submission of hard copy tax returns and to reduce the amount of time taken to complete the process of paying tax. However, hard copies of tax returns are still submitted alongside the online filing. With TAS it only takes 41 hours per year to complete the process of paying tax in Qatar.

San Marino

San Marino though being one of the oldest constitutional republics in the world has the most exciting and competitive tax regime characterized by modern structures, different levels of taxation and simple compliance procedure for all categories of taxpayers. The process of paying tax is simplified by the direct taxation for the employed and the indirect taxation applied to trade. The process of paying tax in San Marino takes only 52 hours per year to complete

Factors Influencing Shorter Times Of Tax Payment Processes

The process of paying tax in Luxembourg, Bahamas, Bahrain, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, and Oman take less than 70 hours per year to complete. The shorter time has been aided by the simple tax system that does not require a lot of information to fill in. Direct taxation and a low number of taxes and deductions have also made it easier to process tax payments. The simple process of filing tax returns has encouraged more people to participate in the tax payment process.