According to Paying Taxes 2011, a report issued by the PwC, the World Bank, and the IFC, Lebanon’s ranking has dropped one to 36 out of 183 countries. What exactly is the Paying Taxes report?
The Paying Taxes 2011 report measures the ease of paying taxes by assessing the administrative burden for companies to comply with tax regulations, and by calculating companies’ total tax liability as a percentage of pre-tax profits.
According to the report, there are a total of 19 different types of taxes per year and these are:
- Social Security – at a rate of 21.5%
- Corporate Income Tax – 15%
- Capital Gains Tax – 10%
- Tax on Interest – 5%
- Value Added Tax – 10%
- Vehicle Tax – various rates
- Stamp Duty – 0.3%
According to the report, an average Lebanese business would be required to pay 30.2% of its profits as some form of tax, about 2% below the MENA average and 13% below what a business in a developed country would pay.
Now if you really want to escape the tax regimes, your top 5 places to be are:
- Maldives
- Qatar
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- United Arab Emirates