A recent study has revealed the Maldives to be the easiest place to pay taxes.
The report, entitled Paying Taxes, was researched jointly by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the International Finance Corporation, and it examined the level of ease connected to paying taxes in 183 world economies during the past year.
The Maldives topped this list for the third consecutive year, followed by Qatar and Hong Kong in second and third place respectively. The country that was found to be the most difficult to pay taxes in was Belarus.
Paying Taxes examined how easy it is for taxes to be paid, not just by individual citizens but also by employers and businesses, by looking at the red tape involved with administration, the amount of payments made, the time the whole tax procedure can take and also companies' liability compared to profits before tax.
The report stated the countries that came out with favourable positions were those with mature tax systems and a softer slant on administration. Neville Howlett, director of external relations for PWC, said “These are countries which put a big emphasis on being tax-friendly in order to attract business, and really pursue making the system cheaper and easier.”
The United Kingdom ranked sixteenth on the list.