Tag: Tax Expenditures

Assessing Pension-Related Tax Expenditures in South Africa

and | 6 April 2021
Fiscal, Research Papers | Tags: Inequality, Pensions, South Africa, Tax Expenditures
In 2016, the South African government introduced a comprehensive reform to simplify and harmonize the pension system in order to incentivize pension savings and increase the fairness of the retirement system. Using administrative tax micro-data, we assess the impact of the 2016 reform and find that it triggered ... continue reading

Disparate Racial Impact: Tax Expenditure Reform Needed

| 23 March 2021
Fiscal, Policy Briefs | Tags: Income Inequality, Tax Expenditures
This policy brief discusses the issues of potential disparate racial impacts of U.S. tax laws regarding government subsidy and incentive programs run through the tax system: tax expenditures. It analyzes the available data, provides normative insights, and describes eight steps to address disparate racial impacts ... continue reading

Reforming Tax Expenditures – Focus on Europe

11, 18 and 25 February, 2021 | Online
Fiscal, Roundtables | Tags: Consumption Tax, Corporate Tax, Personal Income Tax, Tax Expenditures, Tax Reform, Wealth Tax
A significant amount of government funding worldwide is channeled through tax breaks, aka “tax expenditures” (TEs), in the form of exemptions, deductions, credits, deferrals, and reduced tax rates. Despite their magnitude and the fact that their net impact on government budgets is the same as direct ... continue reading

COVID-19 and Inequality: The Urgent Need for Tax Expenditure Reform

and | 24 November 2020
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Covid-19, Inequality, Tax Expenditures, Tax Reform
The economic impact of COVID-19 is both unprecedented and far-reaching. There is now little doubt that the pandemic will disproportionally hit the worse-off, hence exacerbating inequality. It is also clear that the pandemic is particularly affecting groups and sectors that were already under significant stress ... continue reading

Tackling Inequality Through Tax Expenditure Reform

and | 24 September 2020
Fiscal, Policy Briefs | Tags: G20, Inequality, Tax Expenditures, VAT
Inequality endangers social cohesion and hampers economic growth, and as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, inequality is set to increase. Hence, the commitment of the Group of Twenty (G20) to address inequality in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is arguably more ... continue reading

Trade Implications of Tax Expenditures

, , , , and | 15 September 2020
Fiscal, Trade, Policy Briefs | Tags: Carbon Tax, Digitalization, Tax Competition, Tax Expenditures
International trade and taxation are inextricably linked and have been high-priority issues within the Group of Twenty (G20) agenda. However, the interconnections between international trade and tax expenditures—that is, benefits granted through preferential tax treatment—have been overlooked. This brief calls for a better design of ... continue reading

Worthy Goals, Flawed Policies – Why Increasing Tax Deductions for Parents Can be Wrong

| 4 September 2020
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Inequality, Tax Expenditures
Tax expenditures (TEs) – also called tax benefits, tax reliefs, or simply tax subsidies – are used widely to pursue different policy objectives, e.g. boosting innovation and R&D, attracting investment and reducing poverty. Governments worldwide forego significant amounts of revenues through the implementation of these ... continue reading

COVID-19 and Seizing the Opportunity for Reforming Tax Expenditures in Africa

and | 27 July 2020
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Covid-19, Domestic Revenue Mobilization, Tax Expenditures
The  resources needed for financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are estimated at USD 2.5 – 3 trillion per year. According to the IMF, low-income countries (LIC) will need, on average, additional resources amounting to 15.4% of GDP to finance the SDGs in education, health, ... continue reading

Supporting Households with Tax Expenditures in Times of COVID-19

| 3 July 2020
Blog, Publications | Tags: Covid-19, Informality, Sustainable Development, Tax Expenditures
The economic shock triggered by the current pandemic is unprecedented. The number of victims of COVID-19 has already hit half a million and continues to rise. At the same time, the impact on economic output is massive. According to recent OECD estimates, global economic activity ... continue reading

Tax Expenditures and Inequality

| 16 June 2020
Fiscal, Discussion Notes | Tags: Inequality, Sustainable Development, Tax Expenditures
Tax expenditures are used widely by governments across the world to pursue different public policy goals including boosting innovation and R&D, job creation, greening the economy as well as mitigating inequality and tackling poverty. Yet, besides their stated goals (which are often aligned with a ... continue reading