Digital Revolutions in Public Finance

Books, November 1, 2017

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Digitization promises to reshape fiscal policy by transforming how governments collect, process, share, and act on information.
More and higher-quality information can improve policy design for tax and spending, and systems for their management, including:
- tax administration and compliance,
- delivery of public services,
- administration of social programs,
- public financial management.
Countries must chart their own paths to balance potential benefits against risks and challenges, including:
- institutional and capacity constraints,
- privacy concerns,
- new avenues for fraud and evasion.
Support for this book and the conference on which it is based was provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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Digitization affects multiple fiscal domains: capital income, consumption taxes, income, labor, national accounts, personal income, public employment, and taxes.
Technology influences government payments and transfers, public service provision, and interactions with multinational enterprises.
Geographic and thematic scope includes Africa, Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and global perspectives on fiscal policy and digitalization.

Design country-specific strategies to leverage digital information for better tax and spending policy.
Strengthen institutional capacity to manage digital systems for:
- tax administration and compliance,
- social program delivery,
- public financial management.
Address privacy and data protection concerns as part of digital fiscal reforms.
Mitigate risks of fraud and evasion enabled by digital channels through improved safeguards and oversight.