Dr Martin Hearson

Research Director

International Tax Lead

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Lead

Martin Hearson is a Research Fellow at IDS, Research Director of the ICTD and the International Tax programme lead. His research focuses on the politics of international business taxation, and in particular the relationship between developed and developing countries. Before joining ICTD, Martin was a fellow in international political economy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, teaching courses on political economy and global financial governance.

Publications

Research in Brief

Global Rules, Local Realities: Lessons from the Global South on International Tax Standards

June 2026
Martin Hearson, Frederik Heitmüller & Florian Dierich
Working Paper

Global Rules, Local Realities: Lessons from the Global South on International Tax Standards

June 2026
Martin Hearson, Frederik Heitmüller & Florian Dierich
Journal Article

Platform Disempowerment: Business Power and the Taxation of Digital Financial Services

February 2026
Mary Abounabhan, Florence Dafe & Martin Hearson
Partner Publication

The G20’s Crucial Role in an Uncertain Landscape of International Tax Cooperation

November 2025
Suranjali Tandon, Martin Hearson, Frederik Heitmüller & Florian Dierich
Policy Brief

The Tax Era of Development: Taxing Smarter for Equity, Growth, and Resilience

June 2025
Max Gallien, Martin Hearson, Giulia Mascagni, Giovanni Occhiali, Daisy Ogembo & Vanessa van den Boogaard
Research in Brief

The International Tax Regime Complex: Understanding Change in Global Tax Governance

May 2025
Katharina Kuhn, Lucinda Cadzow, Frederik Heitmüller, Martin Hearson & Tovony Randriamanalina
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Blogs

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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….
Group photo from the UN Tax Convention ToR negotiations in New York
May 2024|
Blog

What to do with a global majority: making the most of a UN tax convention

by Martin Hearson

The negotiations on ‘Pillar One’ at the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework have shown quite how much effort…
Flags of member nations flying at United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA.
December 2023|
Blog

A new UN Tax convention – how will it change global tax governance?

by Martin Hearson

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly passed a historic resolution commencing work on a UN…
May 2023|
Blog

Have we reached a critical juncture for global tax governance?

by Martin Hearson

A century since the League of Nations first began to discuss international taxation, the ICTD’s Martin…
June 2022|
Blog

Taxes as collateral: to risk or de-risk?

by Martin Hearson & Mary Abounabhan

Ghana’s Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), set into implementation on the 1st of May, has been met with heated public criticism….
group photo of G20 leaders at the Summit in Rome
November 2021|
Blog

Imposing Standards: Lessons from tax history about the ‘global tax deal’

by Martin Hearson

G20 leaders are celebrating a new agreement to strengthen the taxation of tech firms and create…

News and events

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Event
Webinar graphic for “Comparative Perspectives on International Tax from the Global South,” 17 July 2026, 14:00–15:00 UTC on Zoom, featuring speakers from ICTD, University of Oxford, WU Vienna, and Makerere University.
7 July 2026
Webinar: Comparative perspectives on international tax from the global south

This webinar launches the ‘Comparative Perspectives on International Tax from the Global South’ project, started by the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD), in 2024. The project examines how governments in seven countries — Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Uganda, and Zambia — engage with international tax standards in practice, focusing on exchange of information, bilateral tax treaties, transfer pricing rules, and digital services taxation….
Event
Art card of the event, bearing the title that reads "Four definitions to change the world: Foreseeable relevance", along with details of the webinar superimposed on a gradient green background. At the The bottom half features headshots of five speakers.
29 May 2026
Webinar: Four definitions to change the world webinar series – Foreseeable relevance

The panel will evaluate current instruments and frameworks, their merits, and their limitations in order to contribute to the development of an exchange of information regime that is inclusive and universal. …
Event
Flyer for side event at the FCDO Global Partnerships Conference
19 May 2026
A Roadmap for Fiscal Sustainability: Taxing Smarter for Growth and Equity | Global Partnerships Conference side event

Organised on the sidelines of the Global Partnerships Conference, our side event will provide practical lessons drawn from research on tax reform in lower-income countries….

Research Projects

Completed Project

The Interaction of Different Tax Systems in the Taxation of Cross-border Services
Completed Project

India in International Tax Negotiations
Completed Project

Comparative Perspectives on International Tax from the Global South
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