What tax experts in former socialist countries think about tax policy: The cases of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The paper compares the results of general tax surveys conducted among tax experts in three former socialist countries: Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). It covers all of the main taxes as well as attitudes about tax policies and their effects. The methods include descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and binomial probit regression analysis. Despite the differences among the countries and their tax systems, the experts' opinions are relatively similar. They indicate some decline from the typical base broadening and rate lowering requirements. The tax experts mostly support real estate taxation, dividends and capital gains taxation, personal income tax reliefs, the preferential treatment of small and medium enterprises and reinvested profits, as well as financial activities tax. The experts mostly oppose a flat tax, the lower taxation of capital incomes (compared to labor incomes) and a single rate value-added tax. The paper proves that the experts' tax attitudes influence their responses on particular taxes, although not uniformly and not in all cases.