Brazil is the most complex country to do business, Denmark the easiest
Brazil ranked first in the list of the most complex jurisdictions to do business in 2021, according to the eighth Global Business Complexity Annual Report Index (GBCI).
The bureaucracy involved while incorporating a business and dealing with different tax rates in cities and states puts Brazil on top of the most complex place for business.
Six other Latin American countries, including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia and Costa Rica, featured in the top ten jurisdictions with business complexities.
France and Poland came in at the second and tenth business complexity rank respectively in the list, while the UK moved to the 58th position.
Indonesia, which ranked sixth in the list, is the only jurisdiction from the Asia Pacific region to be among the top ten.
The report noted that new international trade agreements as a result of Brexit provided more increased clarity and stability to doing business with and in Britain.
Least complex
Meanwhile, Denmark is the simplest jurisdiction to do business, followed by Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Ireland.
The report attributed Denmark’s success to straightforward incorporation process, acceptance of English documentation, and digitalization.
The GBCI, by professional services company TMF Group, analyses rules, regulations and penalties, tax rates and compliance issues in 77 jurisdictions, which accounts for 92 percent of the world’s total GDP and 95 percent of net global FDI flows.
“A continuing observation, from our eight years of reporting on complexity, is that some of the most attractive markets to operate in are both the most complex and the most punitive for getting things wrong,” said TMF Group CEO Mark Wei.