TaxDev Special Session: The taxation of wealth in low- and middle-income countries (L&MICs): What does the evidence tell us, and what are the gaps?

August 23rd 2024, in Prague, Czechia

Wealth inequality is a global concern, with renewed debate about the role that wealth-related taxes might play in increasing the progressivity of tax systems, supporting redistribution and the provision of key public goods and services, and repairing vulnerable public finances.

To date, most of the evidence, analysis, and specific policy proposals have focused on higher-income countries. Less is known about the drivers of wealth inequality in L&MICs, or about the role of, and potential for, taxes on the transfer and stock of wealth, and how they interact with capital income taxes in L&MICs.

This session aimed to:

Explore existing evidence on wealth inequalities and wealth-related taxes globally.
Discuss whether and how evidence and policy design from higher-income countries might be relevant for L&MICs, as well as how they might differ for L&MIC contexts.
Identify potential knowledge and evidence gaps for future research.

Speakers

Chair: Laura Abramovsky – TaxDev, Research Fellow IFS and Senior Research Associate at ODI Global

Panel members:

Diana Hourani – Economist – OECD Tax
Dario Tortarolo - Economist at the World Bank’s Research Department (DEC-RG) in the Macro and Growth Unit, and a Research Associate with IFS and TaxDev
Arun Advani – Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Warwick, and a Research Fellow with IFS and TaxDev

This session took place as part of the International Institute of Public Finance's (IIPF) 80th Annual Congress on the theme of 'International Tax Sheltering and Inequality'. Visit the conference website here.

Published on: 23rd August 2024