Press Release No. 20/255

The Platform for Collaboration on Tax Publishes its Progress Report 2020

July 10, 2020

Washington, DC – The Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT) – a joint initiative of the IMF, OECD, UN and the World Bank – published today its Progress Report 2020, which gives a snapshot of the world’s four leading multilateral organizations’ cooperation in the area of domestic resource mobilization, including in their responses to COVID-19.

The PCT Progress Report 2020 is the part of the PCT’s commitment to transparency by making its workplan and outputs publicly available to governments and relevant stakeholders. The report highlights activities that the PCT has carried out since June 2019 under three workstreams: cooperation and exchange of information in DRM capacity development activities, analytical activities, and outreach activities.

During the year, the report notes, the PCT has helped developing countries access good practices in international tax through its various knowledge and outreach activities. The release of its Toolkit on Taxation of Offshore Indirect Transfers, workshops on the Toolkit on Addressing Difficulties in Accessing Transfer Pricing Comparables Data, as well as public consultations on Transfer Pricing Documentation and Tax Treaty Negotiations are among the PCT products that have provided developing countries with capacity building support. Another key activity of the PCT is the Medium-Term Revenue Strategy (MTRS), a comprehensive approach to undertaking tax systems reform for boosting tax revenues over the medium term, through a country-led and whole-of-government approach. The PCT Partners have so far engaged with 23 countries in discussing, formulating, or implementing an MTRS – country updates can be found in the report.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the PCT facilitated the Partners’ cooperation in responding to the pandemic through blogs and a COVID-19 resource section on its website. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the PCT quickly adapted to a virtual delivery environment to support developing countries in building capacity to mobilize tax revenues. The MTRS approach will play a critical role in the PCT Partners’ efforts to support tax system reforms post-crisis, as countries focus on economic recovery and adjusting their tax system reforms in the light of new medium-term expenditure goals.

In addition, the recently launched PCT website is one of the highlights of the report. The new website serves as a global platform to engage with all interested stakeholders, especially tax officials from developing countries. The website hosts the Online Integrated Platform , an extensive database of tax-related projects of the PCT Partners, providing comprehensive information on their capacity development activities in developing countries.

The PCT Progress Report 2020 can be reached at tax-platform.org.

Media queries should be directed to:

• IMF: media@imf.org
• OECD: ctp.communications@oecd.org
• UN: ffdoffice@un.org
• World Bank Group: Joseph Rebello, jrebello@worldbankgroup.org