Fair Tax Monitor
A unique evidence based advocacy tool that identifies the main bottlenecks within tax systems and provides strong evidence for advocacy work at national and international level.
Internationally, the Fair Tax Monitor contributes to global advocacy efforts by providing solid evidence and by showcasing the relative fairness of selected tax systems. The Fair Tax Monitor allows for a comparison of tax policies and practices of different countries, using a standardized methodology and unified research approach. The tool has been produced as part of the CRAFTprogram. On the Fair Tax Monitor website you can already find scorecards for Senegal, Uganda, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The FTM project was developed by Oxfam Novib and Tax Justice Network–Africa in collaboration with partners and Oxfam Country Offices in the pilot countries: Bangladesh (SUPRO), Pakistan (Indus Consortium), Senegal (Forum Civil) and Uganda (SEATINI). Throughout the year partners and Oxfam staff in other CRAFT countries were consulted in the different steps of the development.
The tool relies on the data and analyses presented in the country reports written with a common research framework. At later stages in the project, it will also enable the monitoring of progress in the countries over time. It is anticipated that the project will grow in terms of number of countries and in terms of the quality of the framework and methodology. The project envisions to be regularly updated and to become a reliable source of information and analysis related to fiscal policies and practices.
Facts:
Project name: Fair Tax Monitor
Period: 2014 - ongoing
Target group: civil society organization, citizens, media
Location: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Senegal and Uganda. We plan to expand to more countries in the near future.
Details
URGENCY
The Fair Tax Monitor was initiated as a pilot project to develop a common research framework and an online evidence-based advocacy tool and to subsequently test them in practice in the selected focus countries. It is anticipated that the project will grow in terms of number of countries and in terms of the quality of the framework and methodology. The project envisions to be regularly updated and to become a reliable source of information and analysis related to fiscal policies and practices.
PROJECT
The Fair Tax Monitor’s overall goal is to strengthen the advocacy activities at the local and global levels and to increase the visibility of our work on fiscal justice. It provides an overview of national tax systems and identifies the main challenges they face. The tool provides reliable evidence for the advocacy and lobby work of our partners, which strengthens their position and increases their credibility as well as their influencing power. Furthermore, the FTM compares key elements of tax systems and thus complements the activities of Oxfam’s global Even it Up! campaign and TJN-A’s activities realized at the African level.
IMPACT
The Fair Tax Monitor project provides a wide range of information related to tax justice and represents a solid overview of the strengths and weaknesses of tax systems. However, it does not aspire to provide in-depth analyses of all features of the fiscal systems. The project’s main focus is on tax policies and practices, and by deliberate choice it pays only limited attention to issues related to public expenditure. The ultimate goal is to have the FTM’s research framework, the methodology and web-tool to be used and supported by an ever-increasing number of organizations within and outside the Oxfam and TJN-A networks.
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