Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting

Tax analysis and forecasting of revenues are of critical importance to governments in ensuring stability in tax and expenditure policies. To augment timely and effective analysis of the revenue aspects of the fiscal policy, governments have increasingly turned toward in-house tax policy units rather than relying on tax experts from outside their countries. These tax policy units have been increasingly called upon to analyze the impact of tax policies on the economy and to estimate the revenue implications of tax measures, with the ultimate objective of ensuring a healthy fiscal situation within the economy. Tax policy units also help ensure that tax systems are efficient, fair, and simple to understand and comply with. Such systems help to create an economic environment that is conducive to greater social justice. This manual provides a basic set of guidelines in both theory and practice to carry out this analysis.