## Revenue Administration and Gender

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Revenue Administration and Gender](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/topics/fiscal/revenue-portal/revenue-administration-and-gender.pdf)

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- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/topics/fiscal/revenue-portal/revenue-administration-and-gender.pdf.md)
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### Recognizing the importance of incorporating gender equality and women’s economic empowerment into Revenue Administration
- The short note was produced by the Revenue Administration Gender Working Group of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department in November 2021.
- Gender equality leads to significant improvements in social outcomes and economic development: in 2019, IMF estimated that closing the gender employment gap for countries with low gender equality could increase GDP by an average of 35 percent, with 7–8 percentage points being productivity gains due to gender diversity.
- With the disproportionate impact of COVID on women, gender-focused tax policy changes are more topical and RAs need to consider how to realize revenue gains needed for social and economic development while applying a gender lens in organizational design, policies, and practices.
- Revenue administrations (RAs) support gender equality objectives by effectively and efficiently collecting revenue, implementing tax policies, streamlining supply chains, and facilitating trade; revenue collected finances social and economic development programs that enable women’s participation and economic empowerment.

### How Revenue Administrations (RAs) can contribute to gender equality goals
- Establishing a gender balanced workforce with policies and procedures that ensure equal employment opportunities for all genders.
  - Growing a workforce of women and men with the same opportunities requires integrating gender equality aspects in the design and implementation of the RA’s workforce policies and practices.
- Applying a gender lens when administering the RA laws to minimize barriers for women’s employment, entrepreneurship, and trade.
  - RAs already segment the taxpayer base to target products, services, and interventions; women employees and women-led and owned businesses are segments that should be distinguished for tailored compliance treatments and service offerings.
- Segmenting and tailoring RA services and compliance treatment to the unique circumstances of women taxpayers and women-led businesses to better target support and enforcement.

### Gender equality supports stronger RA outcomes
- Recognizing the unique needs of female taxpayers can:
  - expand their economic participation, contributing to growth in the tax base;
  - increase trust in RAs;
  - facilitate trade and revenue collection.
- Addressing the compliance and service needs of women taxpayers helps reduce the cost of collection for the RA and the compliance costs for women taxpayers, likely leading to increased voluntary compliance.

### Key considerations and policy recommendations for RAs
- Having a detailed breakup of gender by position/level of staff.
- Recruitment policy with gender priorities identified.?
- Establishing services geared to women (information seminars, business mentorship programs, after-hours call-back service).
- Thinking about compliance treatment by gender.
- Integrate gender considerations into workforce policies, taxpayer segmentation, service delivery, and compliance frameworks to both advance gender equality and improve RA effectiveness.

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/topics/fiscal/revenue-portal/revenue-administration-and-gender.pdf_