International Centre for Tax and Development

5 days ago | ictd.ac | Max Gallien |Umair Javed

Each successive federal government budget reaffirms the scale of Pakistan’s fiscal crisis. This year’s was no different. With debt-servicing and pension payment requirements consuming over half of the federal government’s expenditure and a tax-to-GDP ratio languishing at just over 10 per cent — well below countries at similar income levels — the budget exercise is largely an exercise in harnessing revenue.

2 months ago | ictd.ac | Max Gallien |Martin Hearson |Mary Abounabhan

The first budget speech of Ghana’s new government on 11 March painted a picture of an economy in crisis, facing high debt and fiscal mismanagement. The finance minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, acknowledged that key International Monetary Fund performance targets would be missed and announced drastic spending cuts. However, most Ghanaians just wanted to know whether the minister would announce the scrapping of the country’s electronic transfer levy (or e-tax), as he’d indicated he would.

Mar 26, 2025 | ictd.ac | Max Gallien |Umair Javed

Every year, hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world pay a proportion – broadly 2,5% – of their wealth as zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam. On the occasion of Ramadan, when most zakat is paid, we highlight three preliminary findings emerging from a new nationally representative survey of 7,500 Sunni Pakistanis conducted in 2024.

Jan 30, 2025 | ictd.ac | Martin Hearson |Frederik Heitmüller

BRIGHTON, UK, January 30 – With formal negotiations on a new UN-led international tax convention kick-starting in New York next month, new research from the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) provides crucial insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping these historic negotiations.

Jan 21, 2025 | ictd.ac | Giulia Mascagni |Stephanie Alkoussa

Integrating the gender dimension into public finances, and in particular taxation, has become a challenge for revenue authorities around the world. Tax policies and the way they are implemented can have a significant impact on gender issues in tax systems.