Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund
Co-sponsored by the governments of Norway (NORAD), the United Kingdom (DfID), and Germany (GTZ)

September 25–27, 2008
HQ1, Meeting Halls A & B, IMF Headquaters, Washington, D.C.

Soaring prices for oil, gas and mineral resources have heightened interest in the design of tax instruments—and similar measures, such as production-sharing agreements—that provide a reasonable allocation of risk and return between governments and investors, and which ensure efficient resource use and discovery. To encourage discussion of these complex and topical issues, and the identification of good practices, the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF is holding a conference on this topic in Washington D.C. on September 25-26, 2008, with discussion of opportunities and issues in the provision of technical advice on September 27, 2008.

The conference is intended mainly for government officials active in the area, and will have a technical focus. Among the topics to be covered are:

• What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the core instruments—royalties, rent taxes, PSAs, and so on—that are available? Can windfall taxes play a useful role?
• What are the main trends and current issues in the taxation of oil, gas, and minerals?
• What methodologies are available to assess the economic impact of alternative tax arrangements on particular projects?
• What particular challenges do tax administrations face in relation to natural resources, and how can these be overcome?
• What are the key international tax issues in this area?
• Should fiscal stability clauses be provided, and if so in what form?
• What are (and should be) the fiscal implications of state participation?

The Managing-Director of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is expected to open the conference. Keynote speakers on the two full days will be Paul Collier (Oxford) and Michael Ross (UCLA). Session speakers will include Robin Boadway (Queens University), Petter Osmundsen (University of Stavanger), Lindsay Hogan (Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics), Jack Calder (formerly UK Oil Taxation Office), together with other independent experts, and staff from the IMF and World Bank. There will be ample time for discussion, and the papers will subsequently be published as a Handbook of Resource Taxation.

Discussants will include representatives of governments, of civil society organizations, and of international companies working in resource sectors.

The special session on Day 3 of the conference (September 27) will be devoted to technical assistance issues related to fiscal regimes for resource sectors. In recent years, much attention has been given to issues of revenue transparency, and of avoiding the “resource curse,” and less to the design of tax policy or fiscal regimes for these sectors. FAD has experienced a large increase in demand for its technical assistance in this area, the Norwegian Oil for Development Program has expanded significantly, and DfID and GTZ have renewed interest in the topic, especially in Africa. The World Bank aims to broaden its assistance across the chain of extractive industry activity from granting of licenses or contracts to the spending of revenues. What do countries see as their main current and future needs for advice and support in relation to resource taxation? How useful have they found external advice—and how can it be made more effective?

Participants in the special session on technical assistance will include Ministers and officials from resource-rich countries, and from those aspiring to become so, together with assistance providers, civil society organizations, and Fund and Bank staff.

The conference will complement other efforts on the vital topic of resource management. It will provide an opportunity for intensive exchange of views among practitioners from a wide range of countries and expertise. The proposed Handbook will aim to crystallize the proceedings, providing a resource for those charged with policy design.