Event
This side event took place as part of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4).
Start Date: 3rd July 2025 - 8:30 AM
End Date: 3rd July 2025 - 10:00 AM
Time zone: CEST
Type: Conference
Location: Seville, Spain
TaxDev co-hosted 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).
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 explored 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.
