Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most unequal places in the world, with significant levels of social, gender, and income inequality. Several countries in the region have a tax structure that is heavily weighted towards consumption taxes, which can be regressive and inflict a significant burden on those with low and middle incomes. Implementing progressive tax systems, whereby those with higher earnings pay a larger share in taxes, is one way through which governments might optimize the impact of tax revenue on reducing inequality. The adoption of a wealth tax may facilitate wealth redistribution in Sub-Saharan African nations and could help bridge the inequality gap in the region. High statutory wealth tax rates of between 5-8% are needed in order to have an effective tax rate of 3-5%.

Read the paper by South Centre

At the end of last month, the annual ECOSOC Special Meeting on Tax was held at the UN. This constituted the first intergovernmental debate on international tax matters following the historic approval of a new UN General Assembly resolution at the end of 2022. The resolution, which was adopted by consensus, includes the decision to “begin intergovernmental discussions in New York at United Nations Headquarters on ways to strengthen the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation”. The Africa Group, which had tabled the resolution, also called for the process to deliver a new UN Convention on Tax.

Article from Eurodad

Zucman and Wier published a new study on what multinational corporations did with their profits made outside their own country. In 2019 one trillion USDollars went to tax havens!

They also note that multinational profits grew faster than global profits!

Read the interesting study!