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The transition of the eastern European countries into market-based economies and their potential integration into the European Union raise questions about how their capital income tax systems should be structured and to what extent they are in line with the rest of Europe. This note presents a brief analysis of the tax systems currently in place and considers what issues should be of concern in setting tax policy in the future. The impact capital income taxes have on the incentives for firms to invest in the Czech Republic and Poland is described using a marginal effective tax wedge and an average effective tax rate. Simulations of some simple reforms are also presented. First, some brief comments are made on what the optimal tax policy for smaller capital-importing countries might be and how this should inform policy in the transition economies. The standard theoretical literature on optimal taxation in a small open economy suggests that residence-based taxation is optimal, implying that the tax rate on inward investment should be zero.

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