10th Virtual Meeting of the Community of Practice on Tax Expenditures: Special Economic Zones

Building on the momentum and vast interest generated by the Regional Workshops on Tax Expenditures, ATI, CEP and IDOS have initiated a Community of Practice (CoP) on Tax Expenditures (TEs). The objective of the Community of Practice is to provide all attendees from ATI partner countries and other interested parties with a platform to continue discussions regarding TE estimation, evaluation, reporting, and reform. In doing so, the CoP aspires to leverage the collective expertise of its members to enhance TE governance across finance ministries, revenue administrations, parliaments, and beyond.

The first meeting, held in October 2024, provided a high-level overview of tax expenditures governance, featuring two presentations from S. Tunny Cooper (Liberia Revenue Authority) and Pande Putu Oka Kusumawardani (Ministry of Finance of Indonesia).

The second session, organized in December 2024, discussed TE reporting and transparency, with a presentation by Alban Romaric Alladaye (Ministry of Economy and Finance of Benin) and the launch of the newest version of the GTETI (1.1) by Lucas Millan-Narotzky (CEP).

The third meeting convened in February 2025 had TE evaluation in focus with presentations by Gerard McGuinness and Cillian O’Neill (Department of Finance of Ireland) and Tantely Ravelomanana (Ministry of Economy and Finance of Madagascar).

The fourth meeting addressed the topic of TEs and their impact on climate change and the environment, with inputs from Lucas W. Davis (University of California, Berkeley, USA) and Juan Carlos Brenes Brenes (Ministry of Finance of Costa Rica). Ahead the Fourth Financing for Development conference (FfD4).

The fifth meeting provided insights on the governance of tax expenditures in Brazil by Debora Freire (Ministry of Finance), and lessons on implementation in developing countries, by Hazel Granger (ODI Global and TaxDev).

The sixth meeeting showcased benchmarking experiences from Rwanda, by Elysee Nyuzwenimana (Ministry of Finance), and implementation within the TE policy cycle in the Netherlands, by Matthijs van Tiggelen (Ministry of Finance).

The seventh session focused on tax gap analysis based on TEs data, with presentations by Marie Goppelsroeder (European Commission) and Patricio Barra (IMF).

The eighth on assessing and reforming TEs with the examples from Brazil by Rodrigo Octávio Orair and Uruguay by Fernando Peláez Longinotti.

More recently, the ninth meeting focused on tax incentives for investments, with presentations by Josefina del Rosario Lago (IISD), Luisa Dressler (OECD) and Naa Lamle Orleans-Lindsy (Ghana Investment Promotion Centre).