The International Centre for Tax and Development is a research centre based at the Institute of Development Studies, and funded by the UK's Department for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The ICTD also received funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, which ran until March 2016. Founded in 2010, its mission is to generate knowledge that will help developing countries to mobilise domestic resources efficiently, effectively, and equitably, and develop tax systems that promote good governance and pro-poor economic growth. The ICTD fosters a network of social science researchers from developing countries to engage with taxation issues by funding research, building research capacity through courses and workshops, and collaborating with a range of partners including various African tax administrations, UNU-WIDER, the Munk School of Global Affairs, and the Chr. Michelsen Institute. It also aims to disseminate its research evidence to policymakers through its publications and annual centre meetings in Africa. By sharing its research findings, the ICTD aims to widen the public debate on taxation and governance in developing countries.
Research
The ICTD's research aims to generate knowledge to help develop better tax systems in the developing world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, the ICTD conducts and provides grants for research along the following themes:
In order to facilitate better research on tax issues, the ICTD created the Government Revenue Dataset, the most complete and accurate cross-country dataset on government revenue, which importantly separates natural resource revenue from other revenue streams. In early 2019, UNU-WIDER launched the GRD Explorer, a tool that allows users to quickly and easily access and visualise the data contained in the Government Revenue Dataset.
Publications
ICTD has published and supported the publication of many working papers, policy briefings, journal articles, and books. They also publish 2-page brief summaries of their research, available in both English and French. In July 2018, Taxing Africa was published by Zed Books as a part of their African Arguments series. The book offers a cutting-edge analysis on all aspects of the continent’s tax regime, displaying the crucial role such arrangements have on attempts to create social justice and push economic advancement. From tax evasion by multinational corporations and African elites to how ordinary people navigate complex webs of ‘informal’ local taxation, the book examines the potential for reform, and how space might be created for enabling locally-led strategies.
Networks
The ICTD have three research networks.
African Property Tax Initiative
The African Property Tax Initiative stimulates and encourages wider use of more effective property tax systems in Africa. The ICTD is working to build the critical mass needed to successfully support African governments that are considering or currently undertaking property tax reforms. To this end, APTI is currently engaged in establishing a well-resourced network of property tax practitioners, policymakers, and researchers who can support and learn from each other. APTI also produces and disseminates robust research on key themes to inform policy and practice. APTI’s activities focus on four priority themes:
Exploring locally appropriate approaches to valuation,
Examining the roles of local and central governments in property tax collection, and
Investigating the link between property taxation and public services in enhancing the relationship between governments and citizens.
Ethiopian Tax Research Network
The Ethiopian Tax Research Network is a new initiative of the ICTD funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and hosted at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute. The ETRN is dedicated to enhancing the generation and exchange of tax knowledge in Ethiopia. It is concerned with all topics related to taxation, ranging from tax policy to tax administration, and from academic papers to practical case studies. The ETRN was officially launched on the 20th of September 2017 at the Capital Hotel in Addis Ababa, with over 100 attendees. The main objectives of the ETRN are to:
Provide a platform for knowledge exchange and evidence-based debate on tax issues through workshops, conferences, and publications.
Support the production of high-quality, policy-relevant research, especially that led and undertaken by Ethiopian researchers, by providing funding and capacity development.
Facilitate coordination and complementarity between existing projects and actors active in the area of taxation in Ethiopia.
Nigerian Tax Research Network
With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ICTD launched the Nigerian Tax Research Network to support the generation and exchange of tax knowledge in Nigeria, with stakeholders including tax practitioners and researchers from Nigerian and international organisations. The NTRN was formally launched on 12–14 September 2017 at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja. On September 13, 2017, the ICTD and Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria signed a memorandum of understanding. The purpose of the MOU is for both institutions to collaborate on applied research, capacity building, and policy implementation in relation to tax and development issues. The Chair of the NTRN is Mrs. Ifueko M. Omoigui Okauru and the Research Coordinator is Dr. Olly Owen. The main objectives of the NTRN are to:
Providing a platform for knowledge exchange and for evidence-based debate on tax issues, through seminars and conferences.
Facilitating coordination and complementarity between existing projects and actors active in the area of tax in Nigeria.
Providing funding for high quality, policy-relevant research mainly or wholly led and undertaken by Nigerian researchers.
