Chapter 4 | Page 147 administrative costs of different taxes, smuggling and cross-border shopping.30 Despite these concerns, overall evidence shows that countries with GST raise more revenue in general, which is a sign of a more efficient tax system.31 In many developing countries, trade taxes (import duties) also form a major part of public revenue, even after the decline of tariff revenues under WTO trade liberalisation programmes.32 While trade-related border taxes are the easiest to collect for countries with a low level of fiscal capacity, the question of whether trade liberalisation opens up sufficient avenues for these States to recover the lost revenue from trade taxes through other tax measures remains contentious. It is estimated that trade taxes are likely to decline still further in developing countries, although replacing these with other taxes is not going as far as needed.33 On the other hand, excise duties34 levied on products such as alcohol, tobacco, and vehicles are also positive in terms of revenue generation.35 These forms of taxation represent the most common government-levied taxes and generate the bulk of tax revenue. A range of other forms, such as property taxes, earmarked taxes, green tax, emission tax, inheritance taxes, stamp duties, licensing and fines, also contribute to the overall revenue of the State. As well, new types of taxes are being introduced in many countries.36 Financial transactions taxes, taxes on bonus payments, bank debit taxes, and tax on 30 Emrana and Stiglitz, above n 28, 619. 31 Keen, above n 13; Fjeldstad, above n 8. 32 Delamonica and Mehrotra, above n 21, 90. 33 International Monetary Fund, above n 14. 34 Excise duties are inland duties, unlike trade taxes which are levied at the border. These duties are typically very heavy rates applied to a narrow range of products, which are normally based on the per unit basis. 35 Delamonica and Mehrotra, above n 21, 96. 36 See for example, Deborah A Carroll and Benjamin J Sharbel, 'The Property Tax: Past, Present and Future' in Howard A Frank (ed), Public Financial Management (Taylor & Francis, London, 2006) 151, 151; Delamonica and Mehrotra, above n 21, 96; Santosh Mehrotra (ed), The Economics of Elementary Education in India: The Challenge of Public Finance, Private Provision and Household Costs (Sage Publishers, 2005).

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