Symposium paper: Tax equity around the world: A discussion

As inequality has risen around the world, the importance of tax design for achieving equity objectives has become increasingly widely discussed and is the focus of much recent public finance research. At the same time, globalisation and the increasing international mobility of capital have brought international and jurisdictional issues in tax policy to the fore for many countries and for the international community more generally.

This set of issues was showcased at the 4th World Bank Tax Conference in September 2022, which focused on ‘Global Tax Equity’. The set of perspectives papers in this symposium showcases some of the key policy questions and discussions from that meeting of academic researchers, tax and development practitioners and policymakers. 

In this paper Brockmeyer and Phillips discuss the specific proposals in Gabriel Zucman’s paper based on his keynote address and suggest areas where more research is needed in order to establish the likely success or otherwise of such policies. They also pick up briefly on one of the points made by the Honduran tax officials in that policy session, since Honduras has sought to rationalise the incentives within its tax system in order to broaden the tax base, improve tax equity, and reduce the ways in which exemptions and concessions aimed at attracting foreign direct investment undermine the tax base.