IBFD – Revitalizing global partnership
Revitalizing global partnership
IBFD launches tax think tank for Africa
The International Bureau for Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) is a leading provider of cross-
border tax expertise. Established in 1938, IBFD holds true to its original mission to promote
the understanding of international taxation. Its status as an independent not-for-profit
foundation means that IBFD is able to pursue this mission through initiatives like its recently-
launched autonomous think tank, the IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT).
Inaugurated this year, CSAT is devoted
to the study and development of
African taxation. It provides research-
based opinions and best practice
guidance for domestic and international
tax issues as they relate to Africa. CSAT
inhabits the cutting edge of creativity
and innovation in order to anticipate
international tax developments from an
African perspective.
Narrowing the knowledge gap
The tax knowledge gap between Africa
and other continents is evidently wide,
particularly in relation to international
taxation. It is essential to improve tax
expertise in African countries as it
enables them to collect the revenue
necessary to fund development
programmes, run essential services and
to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Further, in a rapidly changing tax arena,
it is generally agreed that such vices as
base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS)
are best tackled through a globally
coordinated response, as opposed to
continued inter-jurisdictional competition
for tax revenue. Major differences
between countries in their knowledge
and skills are a hindrance to these
coordination efforts. In fulfilment of its
mission, and with the support of partners,
IBFD will narrow this knowledge and skills
gap through the activities of CSAT.
Strengthening skills and capacity
IBFD views CSAT as a solid contribution
towards achieving the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals 2015
and, in particular, “Goal 17: Revitalize
the global partnership for sustainable
development.” One of the targets of
this Goal is to “strengthen domestic
resource mobilization, including through
international support to developing
countries, to improve domestic
capacity for tax and other revenue
collection.” Within this context, CSAT’s
tax research activities will have a bias
towards international taxation, since
the knowledge gap in African countries
is most acute in this very specialized
area of taxation.
African perspective
CSAT aims to encourage research by
Africans for Africa and to find solutions
that work in practice. To this end,
CSAT’s first major initiative was to
organize an open symposium in Africa.