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Showing 1-12 of 266 Blogs
group of participants in the UNDP high-level symposium
April 2025|
Blog

With aid declining, FfD4 must include a concrete commitment to scale up investment in tax systems

by Giulia Mascagni

I recently took part in the third high-level symposium of the UNDP’s Finance, Integrity and Governance…
busy street in Nairobi city centre
April 2025|
Blog

FfD4 Countdown: A Watered-Down Proposal on Tax Expenditures Risks Undermining Countries’ Domestic Revenue Mobilisation

by Alexandra Readhead, Agustín Redonda, Christian von Haldenwang, Giovanni Occhiali & Hazel Granger

Governments’ decisions to grant preferential tax treatments have a direct impact on their ability–or inability–to finance their sustainable development goals. At the Fourth Conference on Financing for Development in June, countries must commit to greater oversight of tax expenditures, including implementing minimum reporting standards and rationalising ineffective or harmful tax expenditures….
Fingerprint scanner on transparent screen
April 2025|
Blog

From Identification to Stronger Tax Administration: Can Digital IDs Deliver?

by Fabrizio Santoro & Lucia Rossel

In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), strengthening state capacity and expanding the tax base are…
Donald Trump standing behind a microphone with a book in hand and in front of a background of white and red strips.
April 2025|
Blog

The collapse of international tax truce: Trump’s impact on digital taxation

by Florian Dierich

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decisions have triggered significant shifts in international politics with ripple effects extending…
Photo of a phone screen sending mobile money load
April 2025|
Blog

Ghana’s e-levy: 3 lessons from the abolished mobile money tax

by Max Gallien, Martin Hearson & Mary Abounabhan

The e-levy’s intense politicisation and complex design made it an interesting case of a wider trend of mobile money taxes in the region. We learned more about the e-levy’s impact on informal sector workers in Accra, knowledge and sentiments, registered merchant exemptions and mobile money usage….
Woman carrying a large bowl of shea nuts with a baby tied behind her back in Ghana.
March 2025|
Blog

Time for a broader, bolder approach to tax justice for women

by Giulia Mascagni, Caren Grown & Rhiannon McCluskey

As policymakers gather to discuss gender and tax at the UN today, this blog draws on research to call for moving beyond a narrow focus on gender bias in tax policy toward a broader, more effective feminist fiscal approach to advance gender equality. …
A photo of the UN Headquarters in New York with flags of several countries flying high.
March 2025|
Blog

A decision on decision-making and no disputes on dispute resolution: the Organizational Session for UN Tax negotiations

by Frederik Heitmüller

Last month’s organizational session was not a mundane discussion of practical organizational matters. After a new bureau was elected and the dust following the dramatic exit of the United States from the negotiations had settled, most of the energy was spent on a single topic: reaching a compromise on how the negotiating committee would reach its decisions….
Wide shot of people in a street in Lahore, Pakistan.
March 2025|
Blog

Pakistanis are paying over 1.7 billion GBP in zakat every year—mostly to women

by Max Gallien, Umair Javed & Vanessa van den Boogaard

Every year, hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world pay a proportion – broadly 2,5%…
Close up shot of a person's hands holding loads of Nigerian cash
March 2025|
Blog

Wealthy Africans often don’t pay tax: the answer lies in smarter collection

by Giovanni Occhiali

Wealthy Africans face lower effective tax rates than average citizens, replicating a trend already demonstrated for the relative tax burden of small and large companies. This situation is disheartening. But there are immediate steps that African revenue authorities can take to address this unfairness….
Wide shot of a large group of people facing the camera.
March 2025|
Blog

Reasons to be Optimistic about Tax and the Informal Sector

by Max Gallien & Vanessa van den Boogaard

There are many reasons to be anxious about the taxation of informal sectors in lower income…
Woman Sitting and Working at Market on Street
March 2025|
Blog

Why Mainstreaming Gender in Public Institutions Matters, and How We did it for Tax

by Sripriya Iyengar Srivatsa

ICTD research on gender and tax aims to accelerate the shift in international policy debates in…
February 2025|
Blog

In the Midst of Conflict and Gang Rule: What Would Make Haiti’s Wealthy Supportive of Property Tax?

by Ana Isabel López García & Sarah Berens

Imagine living in a country where non-state actors provide most basic services instead of the state,…