Proceedings of The 4th International Conference on Business, Management and Economics
Year: 2020
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/4th.icbmeconf.2020.12.64
A Comparative study of the VAT/GST Complexity in India, Singapore, Australia, Korea and New Zealand
Shwetha S
ABSTRACT:
The increasing complexity of legal systems has many origins, which are worth a deeper analysis. This paper is an attempt to unveil the complexity in the Value Added Tax (VAT) or Goods and Services Tax (GST) driven by policy and legislative structure. The selected sections of the GST/VAT like Registration, Refunds, Input Tax Credit (ITC), Return Filing, Place and Value of Supply are analysed. The Complexity Index produced by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) in the UK is used to determine the relative complexity of the countries. This examines the usefulness of the OTS Complexity Index for making international comparisons by applying it to VAT or GST in India, Australia, New Zealand, Korea and Singapore. It finds some striking differences in the complexity of the taxes in these countries.
For instance, India’s complexity index is found to be greater than other countries including Australia and New Zealand which themselves are considered to be complex. This paper suggests that by creating an international index based on the OTS method would make a major contribution to the development of a new approach in tax simplification in the VAT or GST domain.
Keywords: Readability, Tax Compliance, Tax Complexity.