About the study

Paying Taxes 2011 is a unique study from PwC, the World Bank and IFC, which measures the ease of paying taxes across 183 economies worldwide. The study provides useful insights and identifies efficiencies which can benefit both government and business alike. And with six years of data now available, the study gives some interesting perspectives on how the world’s tax regimes have changed during this time – and, more recently, over a period of unprecedented economic turmoil.

The Paying Taxes data is produced as part of the World Bank and IFC's Doing Business study. Doing Business looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Economies are ranked on the basis of nine areas of regulation –including paying taxes.

This is the sixth year that the Doing Business project has included the ‘paying taxes’ indicator. The indicator covers the cost of taxes borne by a domestic medium-size case study company and the administrative burden of tax compliance for the firm. Both are important for business. They are measured using three sub-indicators: the Total Tax Rate (the cost of all taxes borne), the time needed to comply with the major taxes (corporate income taxes, labour taxes and mandatory contributions, and consumption taxes), and the number of tax payments. For more detailed information on the Paying Taxes methodology, please see Appendix 1 of Paying Taxes 2011.

The purpose of the Paying Taxes study is to provide quantitative data to stimulate and inform discussion on tax policy and tax administration - and to inspire tax reform. The Paying Taxes results enable governments to benchmark their tax system with others on a like-for-like basis and to identify best practices. A number of examples showing how governments are using the study are included in Chapter 3 of Paying Taxes 2011.