Europe and Central Asia

Managing Risk in Customs - Lessons from the New Zealand Customs Service (April 2010)

The New Zealand Customs Service’s risk management system enables it to manage large volumes of cargo crossing borders with limited resources. This note, the fourth in a series of four on trade logistics reform issues and initiatives, highlights the system’s fundamental principles and processes and offers lessons in reforming trade logistics functions to meet global standards and security requirements.

Outsourcing of Business Registration Activities - Lessons from Experience (April 2010)

Outsourcing has become a recognized feature of industrial and commercial activity around the world. Many countries have outsourced some aspect of business registration, particularly the development and operation of computer systems, but there are some that have gone further. This study has been commissioned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to explore the extent to which outsourcing has become a recognized feature of business registration, the reasons for this, and the associated benefits, drawbacks, and practical problems. Did business registries outsource any or all of their functions? If so, did the same considerations apply as for the private sector? Were there lessons to be learned from their experience? Responses to these and other questions were received from 53 registries and analyzed in this study.

Review of Denmark's Program for Better Business Regulation (April 2010)

The report features a brief review of the Danish government’s 2001–2010 administrative burden reduction program. Over the last few years, Denmark has developed and successfully tested a number of innovative regulatory reform tools, such as the Standard Cost Model and the "Burden Hunter" method. Many of these tools are equally relevant to transition and developing economies, if well adapted.

Tax Compliance Cost Surveys: Using Data to Design Targeted Reforms (February 2010)

A tax compliance cost survey can provide useful information for the design of reforms to reduce compliance costs and risks for small businesses. This note highlights key findings of tax compliance cost surveys conducted in South Africa, the Republic of Yemen, Ukraine, and Peru that measured the burdens on business. These surveys helped fine-tune the design of reforms to lower costs for businesses and improve their competitiveness.

How Many Stops in a One Stop Shop? (January 2010)

Many governments have introduced one-stop shops as part of their reform of the business registration process. But what is a one-stop shop? Is it like any other shop? Can it really involve just one stop? IFC has commissioned this study to provide some background and possibly a few hints for those contemplating setting up a one-stop shop or improving one that already exists.

The Costs of Tax Compliance in Ukraine (2009)

This report presents the results of tax compliance survey for private companies of Ukraine. By far the largest component of all tax compliance costs is the staff time (and associated wage or salary costs) incurred by bookkeepers and accountants that companies employ to carry out tasks related to tax compliance (above and beyond the accounting needs of a company’s financial management). The study shows that tax compliance costs in Ukraine are an onerous burden on private businesses, and especially small businesses, for which such costs may be the equivalent of eight percent of turnover.