Vito Tanzi

In this book, part of the Brookings Integrating National Economies series, Vito Tanzi assesses the need for, and obstacles to, cooperation among countries. He addresses key questions about the effects of internationalization on current and developing tax systems. Tanzi encourages policymakers and tax experts to think globally as they establish new policies. He calls for greater tax harmonization and coordination across national borders and explores the viability of an international institution that would establish and enforce rules for taxation. This institution, similar to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade for trade issues and the International Monetary Fund for general macroeconomic issues, would provide much needed surveillance over the developments in tax systems. Tanzi argues that the creation of such an institution would encourage countries to follow common policies and would support the efforts of international economic integration.

This book brings together the views not only of policymakers and academics but also of religious leaders and labor leaders from around the world- including the 1998 Nobel Laureate in Economics, Amartya Sen - who participated in an IMF conference on this topic. Contributors discuss the causes of growing inequality and the complex question of how to use policy to make economic systems more equitable under five headings: perspectives on economic policy and equity, globalization and equitable growth, country experiences in equity-oriented policymaking, design and implementation of policy, and a roundtable discussion on lessons for countries and the IMF. Edited by Vito Tanzi, director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF; Ke-young Chu, a senior advisor; and Sanjeev Gupta, a division chief in the department.

This study identifies some of the taxation problems most frequently encountered by Fund member countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and seeks solutions that may be useful either to the region as a whole or to groups of countries in the region. A companion study (see part II) provides a statistical framework for assessing the tax systems of the countries in this region.