Functioning taxation systems are of primary importance for development policy. This applies as much to the tax levy within developing countries as well as their capacity to prevent tax and capital flight. Taxation is the most important instrument for mobilising internal financial resources for the development process. Gradually aid in the establishment of an efficient taxation system is gaining significance as part of bilateral development cooperation. By Rainer Falk*)
International tax policy cooperation has also become more important recently as a complementary element. However, the effectiveness of tax policy cooperation is inversely proportional to its importance. At the 2nd UN Conference on Financing for Development in Doha at the end of 2008 or the UN Conference on the Global Economic and Financial Crisis and its Impact on Developing Countries in New York in June 2009 there were vocal demands for strengthening the institutional preconditions for international tax cooperation under the umbrella of the United Nations. Yet concrete initiatives have been limited to those from the organisations dominated by the North such as the OECD resp. regional bodies like the EU or bilateral taxation agreements, above all the many so-called double taxation agreements ... ... this article comes up in WDEV 4/Jul-Aug 2009 and is for subscribers only. For direct log in >>> click here.If you have no subscription >>> pick your option or >>>
* This article is based on the summary and recommendations of a study by the author, Zur Debatte um Steueroasen: Der Fall Luxemburg. Fragen aus entwicklungspolitischer Sicht (Discussing Tax Havens: The case of Luxembourg. Questions from a development perspective), 26 pp, Cercle de coopération des ONG: Luxembourg, July 2009. The complete study can be downloaded >>> here.
For more information : * Cercle de Coopération des ONG de Développement au Luxembourg, 13, av Gaston Diderich, L-1420 Luxembourg, tél: +352/26020911, info@cercle.lu, www.cercle.lu.
After decades of isolation - imposed by major OECD countries out of concern for the country's human rights violations - Myanmar is emerging as a new darling of the "West" - judging by the accelerating succession of visits by senior officials and gurus. New groups of investors are waiting to enter the country as soon as possible.
Persistent high unemployment, the euro area debt crisis and premature fiscal austerity have already slowed global growth and factor into the possibility of a new recession. Now the United Nations have downgraded significantly its forecasts for the world economy in the next year.
Eastern European states are in for a new round of the crisis. The external control of the banking sector and high reliance on external credit has landed the countries of Eastern Europe in a vulnerable position. Now, credit flows from Western banks are drying up again. Hungary has been the first country in the region to ask for IMF support again.
While the G20 efforts to manage global aggregate demand, exchange rate management and stronger regulation of the international financial sector have not worked out quite as planned, in Cannes the Group was further solidifying its role in directing the system of multilateral institutions.
In November 2011, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is celebrating its 50th anniversary.The new Minister, Dirk Niebel of the (neo)-liberal FDP has launched a 'radical change of course'. In the recent edition of the Reality of Aid shadow report the change is analyzed.