Course Description

This course provides participants with practical tools to help formulate the most appropriate tax policies and approaches in tax administration for their particular environments. It links taxation and national development strategies, expenditure policies, and sub-national fiscal challenges; as participants enhance their skills to develop and apply an innovative methodology for the design and assessment of tax systems in their countries, including alternative strategies for improving tax systems. The course covers all major taxes, including value-added tax, corporate and personal income taxes, property and wealth taxes, excise taxes, environmental and carbon taxes, as well as additional topics such as the role of tax administration, and international efforts to reduce tax evasion and avoidance. The program will include case studies and lessons from both successful and failed reforms. Participants will become familiar with: a) key principles of tax policy, b) optimal tax design in low- and middle-income countries, and c) empirical research methodologies to assess behavioral responses to policy changes and inform policy design.

Course Objectives

The Tax Policy and Administration training course is designed to:

• Enhance participants’ knowledge of key principles of tax policy;
• Equip participants with knowledge of the latest approaches in tax policy design and implementation;
• Enhance knowledge of optimal tax design in low- and middle-income countries,
• Improve understanding of emerging and topical issues in tax policy and administrationand their implications for tax systems;
• Enhance skills in empirical research methodologies to assess behavioral responses to policy changes