Technical paper, 28 June 2018. The Global Revenue Statistics Database covers the countries and data from four Revenue Statistics publications, which are each published on an annual basis. These publications are produced to focus on domestic resource mobilisation in each of the four groups of countries. Box 1 provides further information about the individual publications and the regional partners involved in each. The four publications use the same classification system and methodology, as set out in the OECD Interpretative Guide (OECD, 2016). This technical paper provides a brief overview of the methodology used in the underlying regional and OECD databases to produce the four annual publications and the Global Revenue Statistics Database. Data collection, classification and sources The new Global Revenue Statistics Database covers 80 countries from around the world from 1990 to 2015. It draws on the four annual Revenue Statistics publications and includes 16 African countries, seven Asian countries, 25 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and 35 OECD countries plus one non-OECD EU member (Lithuania) . Additionally, three unweighted country group averages are provided: the Africa (16) average, the LAC average and the OECD average. The OECD Interpretative Guide: definitions & tax classification All data in the Global Revenue Statistics Database are classified using the OECD classification of taxes set out in the Interpretative Guide. This ensures consistency across the countries included in the publication and provides a high granularity of tax revenue categories. The classification of tax revenues set out in the OECD Interpretative Guide has been in use since the 1970s and is an international reference for policy makers, academics and researchers. Box 1. Introduction to the Revenue Statistics publications As at June 2018, there are four Revenue Statistics publications which cover 79 countries in total. Revenue Statistics in Africa: The first publication of the Revenue Statistics in Africa series was launched in 2016 with comparable tax revenue data for eight African countries from 1990 onwards. Sixteen African countries, together with an (unweighted) African (16) average were included in the second edition launched in 2017. The publication is co-authored by the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration and the OECD Development Centre together with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), with the financial support of the European Union. Revenue Statistics in Asian and Pacific Countries: This publication is jointly produced by the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration and the OECD Development Centre in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank and the Pacific Island Tax Administration Association, with the financial support of the European Union. It compiles comparable tax revenue statistics for seven countries in Asia (including two OECD member countries) from 1990 onwards and from 2018, will include a number of Pacific countries (including two OECD member countries). Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean: This is a joint publication by the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, the OECD Development Centre, the Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations (CIAT), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It presents detailed, internationally comparable data on tax revenues for 25 Latin American and Caribbean economies, including two OECD member countries, and covers the years from 1990 onwards. Revenue Statistics: The annual publication presents detailed and internationally comparable tax data in a common format for the 35 OECD member countries, with data starting from 1965. The OECD definition of taxes, set out in the Interpretative Guide and used in all Revenue Statistics publications, defines taxes as compulsory, unrequited payments to general government. Taxes are unrequited in the sense that benefits provided by government are not normally in proportion to their payments. According to the OECD classification, taxes are classified by the base of the tax. The Interpretative Guide provides a highly comparable and internationally-recognised framework which is used to ensure comparability of data across the regions. The Interpretative Guide is also harmonised with other leading statistical classifications, including the System of National Accounts (European Commission et al., 2009), the European System of Accounts (European Commission, 2010), and the Government Finance Statistics Manual (International Monetary Fund, 2014) and contains a bridge table of the different classifications at the lowest level of aggregation. In the OECD classification, taxes are classified by the base of the tax: income and profits (heading 1000), compulsory SSCs (heading 2000), payroll and workforce (heading 3000), property (heading 4000), goods and services (heading 5000), other taxes (heading 6000). Within the main categories, further subdivisions of tax categories are made which provide a high level of granularity. For example, commonly-cited taxes include PIT (heading 1100), CIT (heading 1200), SSC (heading 2000) and VAT (heading 5111). Further information on the definition of tax, the classification of taxes and the basis of reporting is set out in Annex B of this paper and in the OECD Interpretative Guide.
