New report reviews Nordic tax assistance

An increasing share of Sweden's and the other Nordic countries' tax assistance is channelled through multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The report Quality Tax Aid - A review of Nordic countries' support for domestic resource mobilization through multilateral institutions examines how well this aid lives up to the Nordic countries' promises to contribute to fair tax systems. The report has been produced by The Nordic Alliance for Tax Justice, of which Oxfam Sweden and Diakonia are Swedish members. It is a coalition of Nordic civil society organizations working together for tax justice.

The report shows that the Nordic countries have a strong commitment, but that there is room for improvement in multilateral aid to translate the commitment to fair tax systems into practice.

Sweden and other Nordic countries should:

• deliver on the Addis Tax Initiative (ATI) commitment to increase tax assistance to developing countries;
   
• ensure that multilateral assistance delivers on the Addis Tax Initiative commitments to contribute to tax systems that promote gender equality and reduce inequality;
   
• prioritize policy coherence for global development in cooperation with multilateral institutions that channel aid to developing countries in line with the ATI Declaration;
   
• strengthen the Nordic exchange of experience and best practice in multilateral tax cooperation.

Facts: about the Addis Tax Initiative - for fair tax systems

In the UN Financing for Development (FfD) agenda, tax is a means to achieve the Global Goals/Agenda 2030. When the Addis Tax Initiative (ATI) was launched in 2015, donor countries pledged to double tax support to developing countries by 2020.
A year ago, a new declaration was adopted with targets to be achieved by 2025, focusing on fair tax systems that reduce inequality. All countries also pledged to work towards policy coherence, which includes tackling tax evasion. A key new commitment in the declaration is to support popular movements and others who scrutinize those in power and demand accountability.