TaxDev researcher participates in regional tax expenditure governance workshops

Kyle McNabb recently participated in regional workshops in Lagos and Nairobi on tax expenditure governance - co-organised by ATI, CEP, and IDOS and local partners such as the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Kenya Revenue Authority, and the West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF

The workshops brought together analysts from Ministries of Finance and Revenue Authorities, as well as parliamentarians and decision-makers to:

• Discuss core aspects of TE management, reporting, estimation, and evaluation;
• Give an overview of good practices and standards to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of TE provisions;
• Map pathways to reform and discuss opportunities and challenges to further improve TE reporting and evaluation;
• Provide a platform for peer learning and exchange;
• Initiate the set-up of regional TE networks for continued exchange and peer-level support of reforms.

Kyle delivered two presentations drawing on the lessons learnt from TaxDev’s experiences of supporting the regular tax expenditure reporting processes in Uganda and Rwanda.

The first presentation focused on establishing a benchmark tax system (BTS) and covered theoretical approaches and the process of defining the BTS in practice, using examples from Canada and the UK.

The second presentation provided an introduction to estimating revenue foregone in the corporate income tax (CIT) system. It outlined how to approach estimating CIT tax expenditures related to tax holidays, and emphasised the importance of effectively communicating the degree of uncertainty in all estimates.

The next workshop will take place in Manila in February 2023.