Conditions in tax collection: an analysis for the municipalities of Minas Gerais

Abstract

Aiming to know which local characteristics influence the own tax revenues of municipalities in Minas Gerais, the bibliographic referential of this article versa on federalism and fiscal decentralization, indicating variables identified in the literature as determinants of municipal tax collection. The own tax revenues depends mainly on municipal tax bases and the rates levied on these bases. Thus, the municipality's income, as well as the weight of urban activities and the degree of formalization of economic activity, determine the size of this tax base and consequently the amount of funds raised. To analyze the local characteristics, secondary data were collected on the fiscal capacity of Minas Gerais municipalities for 2010, in view of the availability of data for this year. Was used factor analysis to group the variables, and quantile regression (RQ) to check the effect of these in different stages of Municipal Own Revenues (MOR). Were obtained three factors: "Economic Aspects"; "Structural Aspects" and "Financial Aspects", which grouped the variables according to the correlation shown between them. With the RQ could be seen that these factors affect differently the quantile MOR (q.10, q.25, q.50, q.75 and q.90), and the highest rates are attributed to higher own tax revenues levels, demonstrating that these factors are most influential in the municipalities of higher own tax revenues. Knowing the conditions of own revenues of municipalities allows the public administration to implement actions to avoid the tax collection inefficiency, promoting the main economic activities that make up your tax base.