International development

African countries could consider temporary, progressive tax reforms that have significant revenue potential whilst minimising short-term negative economic impacts, including wealth taxes, temporary increases in the top rates of personal income tax, and higher taxation of businesses and sectors that fared well during the pandemic.

Carbon pricing can be a powerful tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What are the risks and opportunities from such policies in developing countries?

Increasing vehicle use throughout Africa has potentially large social, economic and environmental costs, particularly in urban areas caused by congestion, accidents and pollution. New research suggests that vehicle taxes in the region commonly fail to address these issues, which are applied predominantly to vehicle imports rather than ownership or usage.

In this paper, we look at why a global deal on global tax reforms was needed, explain how the reforms are likely to work in practice and set out the potential impacts of the global deal, with a focus on lower-income countries.

Taxes can be used to better align the private costs and benefits of motoring with the social costs and benefits. This report sets out some key issues and policy options for ‘green’ motor taxes in SSA. It provides an overview of the principles of motor taxation, describes the policy context in SSA, and discusses the potential for policy options that could improve existing tax systems in the region.

Presented "The Early Labor Market Impacts of COVID-19 in Developing Countries: Evidence from High-Frequency Phone Surveys" at the 5th Annual IZA/World Bank/NJD/UNU-WIDER Jobs and Development Conference: Better Jobs for Development.

At this event, researchers presented work which considers the fiscal and tax policy challenges and opportunities facing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit sub-Saharan African economies hard, exacerbating debt and debt servicing cost issues that a range of countries in the re