At the request of the ICTD, Professor Richard Bird generously agreed to review the new World Bank publication Innovations in Tax Compliance, which proposes a new framework to help guide the design of tax reform efforts. Richard was the founding Chair of the Advisory Group of the ICTD, and is a long term advisor to…
See here for a response to Professor Bird’s critique by the World Bank framework’s lead author and ICTD Research Director Wilson Prichard. Innovations in Tax Compliance, a recent World Bank working paper, undertakes two tasks. First, it reviews the rapidly growing theoretical and especially empirical literature on how countries can improve tax compliance and, not…
The government of Kaduna State, Nigeria, has been working to increase tax collection by broadening the tax base, investing in technology and modernisation, and implementing large-scale policy and administrative reform. These efforts have substantially improved the business environment and increased revenue collection. Yet, there is still significant room to boost voluntary tax compliance. At the…
The public consultation on the OECD Secretariat’s proposed “Unified Approach” to international corporate taxation ends on November 12th. Despite promises of “equal footing,” it seems that countries outside a core group of key players have not really experienced inclusive participation in the process. This sets a dangerous precedent. Procedurally unusual, and troubling The OECD Secretariat’s…
Yesterday the OECD secretariat published its proposed ‘unified approach’ to update corporate tax rules for the digital era, or at least for one of the project’s two pillars. The proposal is designed to be “the basis for a negotiation that could result in a political agreement by mid-2020.” This agreement is to be made via…
There is a growing interest in the role that double tax agreements play in eroding societies’ tax bases. While long considered a technocratic area that generally aims to prevent double taxation, states have become increasingly aware that applying solid tax treaties is of extreme importance to prevent tax avoidance. Over the last few years countries…
Intangible assets are more valuable than ever before. The Global Intangible Finance Tracker found that 52% of the overall enterprise value of all publicly traded companies worldwide resides in intangibles, with a total worth of US$57.3 trillion. In some sectors like cosmetics, internet and software, media, and drinks, intangibles account for 80-90% of enterprise value….
Nigeria’s dependence on oil Nigeria relies more on oil than it does on direct taxes or any other forms of revenue to run its economy. Since discovering oil in 1956, Nigeria has become heavily reliant on oil revenue for survival – in the boom period preceding the 2014 oil price plummet (2010 – 2013), the…
When the OECD’s ‘Inclusive Framework’ invited public input on the possible solutions to the tax challenges of digitalization in February 2019, there was some enthusiasm that the renewed effort would address the overall imbalance in the allocation of taxing rights. The hard and soft law of international tax rules prevents countries taxing multinational enterprises (MNEs)…
Africa has an important role to play in current plans to reform international tax rules in response to the challenges of the digital economy. Of 132 members of the OECD/G20 ‘Inclusive Framework on BEPS’ (IF), which is leading this work, 24 are African; its steering group has a Nigerian deputy chair, and members from Cote…
The difficulties of taxing digital TNCs Taxing Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) that do business through digital platforms is a complex issue for governments. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been examining the tax challenges of digitalisation of the economy under Action 1 of a global project named Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)….
Trump’s new investigation is only the latest skirmish in this new divide. Last week, President Trump ordered an investigation into France’s new tax on Apple, Facebook, Google and other large digital companies. The administration is considering strong retaliatory measures, on the grounds that it unfairly targets U.S. companies. This is the latest stage in a long-running…
