Richard M. Bird is Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics and Adjunct Professor and Co-Director of the International Tax Program at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and currently holds appointments as a Fellow at the C. D. Howe Institute and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Andrew Young School of Public Policy, Georgia State University. He has served in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund; been a visiting professor in the United States, the Netherlands, Australia and elsewhere; and been a frequent consultant to the World Bank and other national and international organizations, working in more than 50 countries around the world. He has written and edited dozens of books and hundreds of articles, especially on public finance in developing countries. He was awarded the Daniel M. Holland Medal of the National Tax Association in 2006 for outstanding contributions to the study and practice of public finance. Pierre-Pascal Gendron is Professor of Economics, The Business School, Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Toronto, Canada. He has served in the federal government of Canada; been a consultant in progressive positions with tax practices of professional services firms in Canada and the Netherlands; and served as consultant on fiscal matters for the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development and the Forum of Federations. As a member of the Expert Roster of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF, he has participated in a number of technical assistance missions on tax policy in Africa and the Middle East since 2007. He has also taught a VAT course at the African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa. He has written extensively on public economics, especially in the area of taxation. He regularly speaks on the subject of VAT at conferences and seminars in the Americas, Europe and Africa.

'This is a much needed book that reviews and evaluates the world's collective wisdom and experience on the design and, no less important, the operation of the VAT – the most important fiscal innovation of the last half-century. It provides a 'state of the art' survey and commentary on the extensive writings, both published and unpublished – hundreds of articles, books and papers are cited – that have appeared over the span of the last 40 years. In addition, the book incorporates a wealth of hands-on experience by the authors in countries as diverse as Egypt, Colombia, Ukraine, Jamaica, Mexico, Argentina and many others.' Sijbren Cnossen, University of Maastricht

• 1. Why this book?; 2. The rise of VAT; 3. Is VAT always the answer?; 4. Trade and revenue; 5. Equity and the informal sector; 6. What should be taxed?; 7. Key issues in VAT design; 8. New issues in VAT design; 9. Administering VAT; 10. Dealing with difficulties; 11. The political economy of VAT; 12. Where do we go from here?

Richard M. Bird is Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics and Adjunct Professor and Co-Director of the International Tax Program at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and currently holds appointments as a Fellow at the C. D. Howe Institute and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Andrew Young School of Public Policy, Georgia State University. He has served in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund; been a visiting professor in the United States, the Netherlands, Australia and elsewhere; and been a frequent consultant to the World Bank and other national and international organizations, working in more than 50 countries around the world. He has written and edited dozens of books and hundreds of articles, especially on public finance in developing countries. He was awarded the Daniel M. Holland Medal of the National Tax Association in 2006 for outstanding contributions to the study and practice of public finance. Pierre-Pascal Gendron is Professor of Economics, The Business School, Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Toronto, Canada. He has served in the federal government of Canada; been a consultant in progressive positions with tax practices of professional services firms in Canada and the Netherlands; and served as consultant on fiscal matters for the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development and the Forum of Federations. As a member of the Expert Roster of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF, he has participated in a number of technical assistance missions on tax policy in Africa and the Middle East since 2007. He has also taught a VAT course at the African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa. He has written extensively on public economics, especially in the area of taxation. He regularly speaks on the subject of VAT at conferences and seminars in the Americas, Europe and Africa.

'This is a much needed book that reviews and evaluates the world's collective wisdom and experience on the design and, no less important, the operation of the VAT – the most important fiscal innovation of the last half-century. It provides a 'state of the art' survey and commentary on the extensive writings, both published and unpublished – hundreds of articles, books and papers are cited – that have appeared over the span of the last 40 years. In addition, the book incorporates a wealth of hands-on experience by the authors in countries as diverse as Egypt, Colombia, Ukraine, Jamaica, Mexico, Argentina and many others.' Sijbren Cnossen, University of Maastricht

• 1. Why this book?; 2. The rise of VAT; 3. Is VAT always the answer?; 4. Trade and revenue; 5. Equity and the informal sector; 6. What should be taxed?; 7. Key issues in VAT design; 8. New issues in VAT design; 9. Administering VAT; 10. Dealing with difficulties; 11. The political economy of VAT; 12. Where do we go from here?