Regional tax governance

This chapter provides an overview of the diversity of regional intergovernmental tax governance, in which we highlight and explain some interesting patterns. First, we argue how (a) tax capacity building and technical assistance, (b) international political coordination, and (c) regional interaction with global institutions are the main rationales for regional tax cooperation. Next, we conduct a mapping of regional arrangements for tax cooperation, mentioning specialised regional tax organisations, regional development banks, generalist transregional organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and generalist regional organisations such as the European Union (EU) and East African Community (EAC). We subsequently delve into the empirical evidence of four case studies, notably the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), the Centro Interamericano de Administraciones Tributarias (CIAT), the Cercle de Réflexion et d’Echange des Dirigeants des Administrations Fiscales (CREDAF), and the European Union. We conclude by recognising the vibrant sector of specialised regional tax organisations, indicating that most of them focus on tax collection instead of tax policy-making. We also note that these organisations remain dependent on donations from and collaboration with rich countries and the OECD. Furthermore, we find that regional tax cooperation in the form of political coordination and representation at global fora is most advanced where political-economic integration has generated the most pressure for such cooperation. Here the EU stands out as the only case with intense political coordination internally and at global fora. Finally, we also found that, as far as international tax policy-making is concerned, dynamics at global fora, notably the G20 and OECD, have overtaken regional ones. In this context regional tax organisations have found new roles in disseminating information on global processes to their members, and helping the latter in national implementation, while remaining rule-takers. As a notable exception, ATAF has started to coordinate common African policy positions for these global fora.