International Fiscal Association’s Post

Local Governments in Argentina 🇦🇷 Delighted to share pivotal insights from our detailed report on Local Government in Argentina, part of the LoGov project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (https://buff.ly/3Kh1gve). In the country report of our partners from Universidad Nacional de San Martín Lucas González and Romina Del Tredici give an overview of the local government structure of Argentinia. Key Insights from the Report:** 1. **Types of Local Governments**: Argentina boasts a complex federal system comprising 23 provinces and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires. Each province is empowered to govern independently, creating a diverse and multifaceted landscape of local governance. The country features approximately 2,300 municipalities. 2. **Local Autonomy**: While municipal autonomy is robust in legal texts, granting municipalities the power to regulate a wide array of local affairs, the reality is often marred by administrative and financial constraints. Local governments frequently battle with overlapping national and provincial mandates, which can dilute their effectiveness. 3. **Legal Framework**: Despite a constitutional framework supporting local autonomy, many municipalities face significant challenges due to limited fiscal capabilities and administrative capacities. The intergovernmental fiscal transfers intended to support local governance are often criticized for their insufficiency and the complexity of their distribution mechanisms. Significant disparities exist in the allocation of fiscal resources, with some regions receiving less support due to the centralized revenue collection system. For professionals interested in governance, decentralization, and policy reforms, this report provides a critical examination of how local governments in Argentina strive to navigate their complex roles amidst significant urban-rural challenges. Read the Full Report 👉👉👉 https://buff.ly/3wPsUMS KDZ - Centre for Public Administration Research Eurac Research

The #UNtaxCommittee meeting has just ended (earlier than planned). In this final session, Annex I (proposed outline and modalities) and Annex II (proposed modalities for multi-stakeholder engagement) have been adopted. While there has been no discussion on Annex II, the following items have been added to Annex I: - Given the importance of international tax cooperation, every reasonable effort should be made within the available time frame for negotiation to seek consensus on substantive matters in the Ad Hoc Committee. (proposed by the Chair) - To ensure inclusive participation, member states and other relevant stakeholders are encouraged to provide financial support for developing countries for in-person attendance. (proposed by Colombia) - Considerable importance should be placed on ensuring the transparency of the Committee's work. (proposed by the UK) If you have any further questions about these items, please do leave a comment, and I will be happy to elaborate more based on the meeting that I followed. Other than that, here is the link to the recording: https://lnkd.in/eyEh3cQJ

We have published our latest study exploring systems of local government finance in different countries. This one focuses on Japan. It is part of a unique comparative research project led by Kevin Muldoon-Smith of Northumbria University into different local government systems and their relationships with their national governments. So far, we have reported on England, Germany, Italy and Japan, and more will follow. The research is providing evidence, ideas and insights for how local government in the UK could be empowered and enabled to work better as we call for urgently needed reforms. Key takeaways from the latest Japan study include: 1. Local government funding reform in Japan in the early 2000s was based on the view that local government's financial problems were caused by their weak capacity to generate and spend their own income. Equally true in England today. 2. In Japan today, local government has a huge variety of measures to generate income - more than 20 local taxes! Compared to just council tax and business rates in England. 3. In Japan, they share income across local government using 'local allocation tax', compensating for inequalities in income-generating powers. A systematic alternative to the competitive bidding approach in the UK.  #localgov, Jonathan Carr-West, Greg Stride, Andrew Walker, Thomas Lynch, Freya Millard, Ingrid Koehler Funding systems for local government – international comparisons (research available to all) https://lnkd.in/e8JpMWcz

🚨Do not miss this free STEP Miami webinar about the developments in the UK and Italian tax regimes along with an overview of residence and citizenship investment programs Check out the details below and register ⬇️⬇️⬇️ #webinar #STEPMiami #UK #Italy

🇭🇺Hungarian Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations. The Council of Europe🇪🇺 conducted a peer review and now the report „Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations, Data Access and Use, and Local-Central Policy Dialogue“ is published. Glad that I could contribute to this important project which improves local finances in Hungary. Even more glad that all Hungarian partners (Ministries and Local Government Association) agreed to publish the report. We provided six recommendations for 1️⃣The local tax base 2️⃣ Intergovernmental transfers, the equalisation mechanism and improving the solidarity contribution 3️⃣ The system of data collection and analysis 4️⃣ The platform for dialogue between central and local governments 5️⃣ Assessment of the main causes of challenges and the the general direction of intergovernmental relations 6️⃣ Capacity building in municipal associations and local governments Read more in the report 👉👉👉 https://lnkd.in/dRZPufmE Thanks to Conrad Zellmann for mindful leading the project and my peer expert colleagues Marek Jetmar, Myles Binney, Martin Valentovič, Dario Runtic, Sorin Ionita.

Today IOBE - Ίδρυμα Οικονομικών και Βιομηχανικών Ερευνών (FEIR) hosted the annual conference on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Greece. The RRF is a monumental opportunity for Greece to close the gap that separates it from the European median in a number of indicators, such as the labor market participation rate, the cost of borrowing for businesses, the average firm size , as well as women’s participation rate in the labor market, to name a few. Recent advances in behavioural economics can foster the implementation of the Plan and improve its efficiency, without incurring additional costs. This is something that I tried to address with a working paper I authored for ELIAMEP (Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy) a couple of years ago. The paper examines the behavioural conundrum that creates frictions and offers concrete and quantifiable policy proposals, in accordance with the goals of Greece 2.0. The proposals remain relevant to this day. To name a few: reducing energy consumption and pollution via showing energy-intense consumers how they rank in comparison to the average, better matching of job seekers with potential employers, curbing late payment of taxes via personalised letters, and increasing tax compliance by influencing the public’s perception of the efficiency with which the authorities identify tax evasion. Regarding tax evasion and compliance, one can estimate at least €1 billion in additional tax revenue per year if the proposals are implemented. See the full proposals here: https://lnkd.in/dgfs8Ypd

📕Fresh off the Press 😍 2024 Fiscal Decentralization Report for South-East Europe 📊 NALAS: Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe and KDZ - Centre for Public Administration Research provide comprehensive insights into local government finances and the multi-level fiscal landscapes of Europe. Some findings: 🏙️ Significant Variability in Local Government Structure 🆓 Challenges in Fiscal Autonomy 🤰Educational Funding Dominates 💶 Wide Revenue Disparities ⚖️ Increasing Reliance on Intergovernmental Transfers 🏡 Property Tax Revenue Trends 🛣️ Capital Investment Needs Thanks Elton Stafa and Kelmend Zajazi for the important cooperation and co-editing. Read and download here: ▶️ #FiscalDecentralization #LocalGovernment #PublicFinance #SouthEastEurope

I share a comprehensive personal interpretation of Portugal's fiscal consolidation exercise from 2010 through 2023. I delivered it on 14 March 2024 as my keynote address to an interparliamentary forum. For the first time in many years, Portugal presents unique conditions to align public policies with the economy's main structural challenges and reform its budgetary legislative process. Enormous collective progress has been made since 2012 in repairing the internal, external and fiscal imbalances accumulated in previous decades. However, critical structural challenges have either aggravated or emerged: quality deterioration of primary publicly provided collective services and economy-wide weaknesses. Economic policy is, therefore, at a crossroads. Either policy seizes this unique opportunity to leverage the reform in the model of productive specialization and streamline its budgetary legislative process or settle for doing more of the same, hoping in vain that the results will be different. The address occurred before attendees of a webinar on the "Economic and Budgetary Affairs" Area of Interest within the ECPRD network. The European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) is a knowledge community for staff of the European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and national parliamentary chambers of the European continent. #fiscalpolicy #macroeconomics #portugal #baleiras #pbo #utao

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗟𝗮𝗼𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰! The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands warmly invites eligible applicants active in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia to participate in the call for project proposals, for projects to be implemented with the support from the 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱. The objective of the Human Rights Fund is to strengthen the role and position of civil society, while supporting and strengthening human rights, democratic development and the promotion of the (international) legal order and rule of law. 𝗪𝗵𝗼? Local and international non-governmental organizations active in Thailand, Laos or Cambodia, governmental organizations, human rights institutions, ombudsman, governmental auditing offices and the judiciary, the local country office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲? In Thailand, Laos, and/or Cambodia. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻? Selected projects can start from March 2024 onwards and have a duration of maximum four years. 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁? There is no minimum or maximum amount, but projects between 50.000 EUR and 80.000 EUR are encouraged. The deadline is 𝟮𝟵 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝟲 𝗣𝗠 (𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲) to submit your proposal. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲: https://lnkd.in/gEap2-xp 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: the link to the application form is on the bottom of 2nd page of the Call for Proposals.

Today’s plenary session explored the fiscal landscape tax leaders are operating in currently, where global #TaxPolicy may be headed next and what the future may hold for Africa. #KPMGTaxEvents #FutureofTax Grant Wardell-Johnson, Logan Wort, Melissa Dejong, Moses Yidana, KPMG South Africa