IGF Advisor Alexandra Readhead was named among the top 50 most influential people, organizations, events and trends in global taxation for her work assisting developing countries combat tax avoidance.
Politicians and policymakers dominate the International Tax Review’s list, which was topped by the group of policymakers leading tax reform in the United States.
“I am deeply honored by this recognition from the International Tax Review,” Readhead said.
“It’s clear that something needs to be done to tackle tax avoidance: the IMF estimates that developing countries lose more than USD 200 billion a year to tax base erosion and profit shifting,” Readhead added.
“We are working to equip developing country governments with practical tools and policy guidance that will help tax authorities and their counterpoints in the ministry of mines collect a fair share of revenues from their nation’s natural resources.”
Readhead leads the IGF’s work on tax avoidance, a joint project with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
She has advised numerous governments—including regional assemblies, parliamentary committees and tax authorities in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia—on strengthening legal frameworks against abusive transfer pricing in the mining sector.
Readhead has also authored and co-authored a range of policy reports and guidelines on tax avoidance, including the first Toolkit for Transfer Pricing Risk Assessment in the Mining Industry.
IGF member country governments identified tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) as their primary collective concern in 2016.
Readhead and her colleagues presented their initial findings in October at a day-long technical workshop held during the IGF’s 13th Annual General Meeting.
The IGF’s tax team will publish several technical papers in 2018.
Work has also already begun to provide capacity building support to African tax authorities in partnership with the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).