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This indicator shows the amount of government revenue in the form of tax and nontax sources.

Revenue is defined in Chapter 4 (paragraph 4.23) of GFSM 2014 an increase in net worth resulting from a transaction. It is a fiscal indicator for assessing the sustainability of fiscal activities. General government units have four types of revenue. Indicator 17.1.1 Total government revenue as a proportion of GDP, by source supports understanding countries’ domestic revenue mobilization in the form of tax and nontax sources. The indicator will provide analysts with a cross-country comparable dataset that highlights the relationship between the four main types of revenue as well as the relative "tax burden" (revenue in the form of taxes) and “fiscal burden” (revenue in the form of taxes plus social contributions).

Ministry of Finance (MOF)

Ministry of Finance (MOF)

Annual

Percentage (%)

The major types of revenue are taxes (GFS code 11), social contributions (GFS code 12), grants (GFS code 13), and other revenue (GFS code 14). Of these, compulsory levies and transfers are the main sources of revenue for most general government units. In particular, taxes are compulsory, unrequited amounts receivable by government units from institutional units. Social contributions are actual or imputed revenue receivable by social insurance schemes to make provision for social insurance benefits payable. Grants are transfers receivable by government units from other resident or non-resident government units or international organizations, and that do not meet the definition of a tax, subsidy, or social contribution. Other revenue is all revenue receivable excluding taxes, social contributions, and grants. Other revenue comprises: (i) property income; (ii) sales of goods and services; (iii) fines, penalties, and forfeits; (iv) transfers not elsewhere classified; and (v) premiums, fees, and claims related to nonlife insurance and standardized guarantee schemes.

The transactions and the associated classifications are detailed in Chapter 5 of GFSM 2014 and are structured to demonstrate how general government (and public sector) units raise revenue. Only those taxes and social insurance contributions that are evidenced by tax assessments and declarations, customs declarations, and similar documents are considered to create revenue for government units. Thus, the difference between assessments and expected collections represents a claim that has no real value and should not be recorded as revenue (see GFSM 2014 paragraph 5.20). The analytic framework of GFSM 2014 (like that of the GFSM 2001) builds on the GFSM 1986 framework and extends it by incorporating additional elements that are useful in assessing fiscal policy. An important example is the treatment of nonfinancial assets, where the sale of such assets is no longer included in revenue. The disposal of a nonfinancial asset by sale or barter is not revenue because it has no effect on net worth. Rather, it changes the composition of the balance sheet by exchanging one asset (the nonfinancial asset) for another (the proceeds of the sale). Similarly, amounts receivable from loan repayments and loan disbursements are not revenue. In general, transactions that increase net worth result from current operations. Capital transfers are an exception.

In GFSM 2014, capital transfers receivable are classified as revenue because they increase the recipient’s net worth and they are often indistinguishable from current transfers in their effect on government operations. In recording cash-based accounting revenue transactions, data representing the tax payments received by government, net of refunds paid out during the period covered should be reported. These data will include taxes paid after the original assessment, taxes paid, or refunds deducted from taxes after subsequent assessments, and taxes paid, or refunds deducted after any subsequent reopening of the accounts. Therefore, total tax revenue could be presented on a gross basis as the total amount of all taxes accrued, or on a net basis as the gross amount minus tax refunds. Revenue categories are presented gross of expense categories for the same or related category. In particular, interest revenue is presented gross rather than as net interest expense or net interest revenue. Similarly, social benefits and social contributions, grant revenue and expense, and rent revenue and expense are presented gross. Also, sales of goods and services are presented gross of the expenses incurred in their production. In cases of erroneous or unauthorized transactions, revenue categories are presented net of refunds of the relevant revenue, and expense categories are presented net of inflows from the recovery of the expense. For example, refunds of income taxes may be paid when the amount of taxes withheld or otherwise paid in advance of the final determination exceeds the actual tax due. Such refunds are recorded as a reduction in tax revenue. For this reason, tax revenue is presented net of non-payable tax credits (see GFSM 2014 paragraphs 5.29–5.32).

by source. The detailed GFS revenue classification structure in the annual questionnaire that is used by countries to report data allows for compiling 17.1.1. The four types of revenue: Taxes, Social contributions, Grants and Other revenue are further disaggregated in the annual GFS questionnaire in order to encompass all possible forms of revenue administrations.

Indicator 17.1.1 will be derived using series that are basic to the GFS reporting framework. GFS revenue series maintained by the IMF Statistics Department are collected in Table 1 of the standard annual data questionnaire. Each revenue transaction is classified according to whether it is a tax or another type of revenue. GFS revenue aggregates are summations of individual entries and elements in this particular class of flows and allow for these data to be arranged in a manageable and analytically useful way. For example, tax revenue is the sum of all flows that are classified as taxes. Conceptually, the value for each main revenue aggregate is the sum of the values for all items in the relevant category. The annual GFS series for monitoring Indicator 17.1.1will be derived from the data reported by the national authorities (in national currency) expressed as a percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), where GDP is derived from the IMF World Economic Outlook database (no adjustments and/or weighting techniques will be applied). Mixed sources are not being used nor will the calculation change over time (i.e., there are no discontinuities in the underlying series as these are key aggregates/ components in all country reported GFS series).

OR

Total government revenue as a proportion of GDP by source = Government revenue by source / GDP

This indicator will provide a cross-country comparable dataset that highlights the relationship between the four main types of revenue.

In principle, GFS should cover all entities that materially affect fiscal policies. Cross-country comparisons are ideally made with reference to the consolidated general government sector. However, for most developing and many emerging market economies, compiling data for the consolidated general government and its subsectors is problematic owing to limitations in the availability and/or timeliness of source data.

For many emerging market and low-income countries with limited statistical capacity, budgetary central government is considered the most appropriate level of institutional coverage for comparison purposes. Budgetary central government, as described in GFSM 2014 (paragraph 2.81), is an institutional unit of the general government sector particularly important in terms of size and power, particularly the power to exercise control over many other units and entities. This component of general government is usually covered by the main (or general) budget. The budgetary central government’s revenue (and expense) are normally regulated and controlled by a ministry of finance, or its functional equivalent, by means of a budget approved by the legislature.

All the metadata shown in this document was gathered from United Nation Statistics Division. The metadata was extracted from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.