FfD4 Side Event | From Insight to Impact: Harnessing Research Collaboration to Build Better Tax Systems

TaxDev is co-hosting a side event at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain, in partnership with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the International Centre for Tax & Development (ICTD). 

Background

Strengthening domestic resource mobilisation to finance sustainable development has never been more urgent. As aid volumes shrink and debt burdens grow, lower-income countries face mounting pressure to increase revenues to fund basic services, drive inclusive growth, pursue climate adaptation, and protect biodiversity. Many are now spending more on debt servicing than on health or education. In this fiscal squeeze, increasing tax collection is not just necessary – it is the most sustainable path forward.

But raising more revenue is not simply a matter of ambition – it demands well-designed, evidence-based reforms tailored to local political, economic, and administrative realities. In too many cases, rushed efforts to boost revenue have provoked public backlash and forced policy reversals, revealing the risks of measures not rooted in context or evidence.

Collaborations between researchers and revenue authorities or finance ministries have proven to be highly effective in delivering better tax reform outcomes. These partnerships enable officials and researchers to leverage data, share skills, jointly identify key insights, and embed learning feedback loops in real-time. This not only generates new knowledge but helps advance fairer, more effective tax systems that support sustainable development and build public trust.

This side event will explore how collaborative research and analysis has supported meaningful change in tax policy and better outcomes in tax administration – and what it would take to scale these successes across more countries and partners.

Agenda

Introductory Remarks

• Louise Walker, Head, Private Sector and Capital Markets Department Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, United Kingdom

Presentation

• Giulia Mascagni, Executive Director, ICTD
• Alexandra Readhead, Director of Tax and Debt, IISD
• Yani Tyskerud, Programme Director, TaxDev / Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Hazel Granger, Senior Research Fellow, TaxDev / ODI Global

Panel Discussion

• Dingani Banda, Commissioner General, Zambia Revenue Authority
• Jeneba Bangura, Commissioner General, National Revenue Authority, Sierra Leone
• Emeka Nwankwo, Head of Member Services, African Tax Administration Forum
• Thomas Nyarko Ampem, Deputy Minister of Finance, Ghana
• Murangwa Yusuf, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Rwanda (TBC) 
   

This is an in-person event, that people registered to attend the FfD4 conference at the FIBES Centre in Seville can attend. The event will take place from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. in Side Event Room 12. 

As space is limited, please register here to confirm your attendance.