In this joint blog by Marcello Estevão, World Bank; Vitor Gaspar, IMF; Navid Hanif, UNDESA; Pascal Saint-Amans, OECD, PCT Partners discuss tax measures that can promote growth and gender equality in the post-COVID era. Read more about the key issues on the role of taxation in achieving gender equality.

The fight against COVID-19 is transforming social norms and practices around the world. Social distancing and work-from-home are now global norms. This requires adopting digital solutions quickly. PCT’s three recent workshops on TP and comparables data were no exceptions: All workshops went virtual and connected tax officials from around the world.

The current crisis is a global challenge that requires a global response. International tax cooperation must be part and parcel of a set of effective and well-coordinated multilateral actions to respond to the crisis.

A joint blog by Vitor Gaspar, IMF; Navid Hanif, UN; Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, WBG; Pascal Saint-Amans, OECD.

The number of COVID-19 cases is quickly rising around the world, with major adverse effects on health and mortality. To fight the outbreak and the spread of the virus, countries are imposing unprecedented measures, such as restrictions on the free movement of people and goods, and are shutting down large parts of the economy.

A key role of government is to protect the well-being of its people—most crucially and visibly during emergencies such as the recent outbreak of the coronavirus. The IMF has $50 billion available in rapid-disbursing emergency financing to help countries suffering from the virus. As Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, what we want is to guarantee that people are not going to die because of a lack of money.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires a massive increase in investment over the next decade —each year, the equivalent of as much as 8.2% of national GDP for some developing countries. That’s a tall order for even the wealthiest of countries. For low-income countries, it’s a potentially crushing burden.

Without urgent action, the impact of climate change could push an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030.  Meeting global climate goals requires ambitious, transformational and systemic action. Mobilizing public and private resources is an essential part of generating the trillions of dollars needed for this sustainable infrastructure.

Malaysia wants the digital economy to play a central role in the next chapter of the country’s development—that much is clear. However, what may be less clear is why taxation should be part of the policy mix that will help deliver the country’s digital economy ambitions. This is important because taxes raise the cost of doing business rather than reducing it.

Taxation plays a fundamental role in effectively raising and allocating domestic resources for governments to deliver essential public services and achieve broader development goals.