A new blog post on the International Growth Center‘s website outlines why the Sustainable Development Goals needs to take what the net effect of all governments taxing and spending has on the poor. In many cases, the poor are left worse off by tax and transfer programs. “As it stands, the SDGs list of targets would not alert us of such a perverse outcome. Under Goal One on poverty reduction, there should be a Target 1.6: “By 2020 to ensure that the tax system does not reduce the income of the poor.”
Category: Sustainable Development Goals
IDS blog post: The Sustainable Development Goals – Reject Tax Targeting
The Co-Facilitators of the Third International Financing for Development Conference that will be held in Addis Ababa this coming July, are proposing “tax targeting” as a mechanism to promote equity in developing countries. Mick Moore, Nora Lustig, Richard Bird, Nancy Birdsall, Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Richard Manning and Wilson Prichard demonstrate that this tactic would in fact be detrimental to poverty alleviation. See why targeted taxes won’t work here.