“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” Benjamin Franklin, the 18th‑century American statesman and philosopher, allegedly once said. He was wrong about the tax part.
Every year, billions of dollars are lost due to poor and poorly implemented taxation systems. Laws, policies and loopholes cater for tax evasions, illicit financial flows and corruption, siphoning off vital resources from healthcare, education and basic services people. In this way, poor tax systems can perpetuate inequality. Inequality is first and foremost a systemic issue requiring systemic changes including in welfare programmes and public institutions and for effective service delivery. Given the gap between needs and available resources for sustainable development, we need equitable tax systems to improve local revenue raising and thereby reduce dependency and allow countries to be fully in charge of their own development.
A just and transparent tax system is also needed to ensure that society as a whole benefits from the exploitation of a country’s natural resources. In Norway, we have a long tradition of taxing natural resources such as petroleum and hydropower. This has served us well in the process of developing our country while at the same time planning for the future. We also know from our own experience that environmental and climate taxes can stimulate effective and innovative approaches to financing the green transition.
At the global level, there is a demand to improve international regulations and transparency through more effective and inclusive multilateral co-operation to prevent capital flight. We must strive to make substantial progress in this area at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 in Spain. Together with Mexico, Nepal and Zambia, Norway will facilitate negotiations around the outcome document for the conference. Norway also gives high priority to tax collaboration as a guest country in the G20 this year, under Brazil’s presidency.
