Enabling Tax Bargaining: Supporting More Meaningful Tax Transparency and Taxpayer Engagement in Ghana and Sierra Leone
January 20, 2022
The need for improving connections between taxation and accountability is integral to international development. As the world looks for new and innovative methods for sustainable development, the mechanisms and strategies behind this goal are important to keep governments accountable. Researchers at the International Center for Tax and Development pose the question: what specific interventions and strategies can governments, civil society, and development practitioners adopt to strengthen links between taxation, responsiveness and accountability?
A new report released by the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) addresses these issues, specifically focusing on stakeholders in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Research fellow Vanessa van den Boogaard, and Wilson Prichard, Munk School associate professor and CEO of ICTD, co-authored the report along with Rachel Beach and Fariya Mohiuddin. It was published in January 2022.
The researchers had two key findings. First, meaningful tax transparency must entail comprehensive information prioritizing taxpayers and communication between these taxpayers and governments. The second is a call for safe, secure, and sincere taxpayer engagement with firms, forums, and education. Their findings point to the need for taxpayer education and engagement programs that make information more accessible and more directly relevant to taxpayers’ everyday experiences.