Open Consultation: Voluntary Minimum Standards for Tax Expenditure Reporting

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At the last meeting of ATI Consultative Group 3, members proposed that the ATI engage in the ongoing discussion on Voluntary Minimum Standards for Tax Expenditure Reporting, particularly in light of Action 3 of the ATI Seville Declaration on Domestic Revenue Mobilisation (DRM). Following this discussion, the ATI Secretariat and the Coalition on Tax Expenditure Reform (COATE) are pleased to invite ATI members to this online consultation on 8 September 2026 at 14:00 CEST to learn more about the proposed Standards, exchange views and provide feedback as part of the ongoing public consultation.

The Compromiso de Sevilla stressed the importance of improving the governance and transparency of tax expenditures. The ATI Seville Declaration on DRM took this commitment further, with members agreeing to “continue to support the rationalisation of tax expenditures by further improving their design, monitoring, and evaluation” and to “foster enhanced tax expenditure governance and transparency, (…) publish tax expenditures reports regularly, and work towards the development and adoption of joint voluntary minimum standards for tax expenditure reporting”.

COATE, an initiative launched at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville and led by five international think tanks, has taken up this challenge and developed a proposed a set of Voluntary Minimum Standards for Tax Expenditure Reporting. The proposed Standards aim to support greater transparency, accountability, and informed decision-making by establishing a practical baseline for tax expenditure reporting. COATE has now launched a public consultation to gather feedback from a broad range of stakeholders, and ATI members are invited to contribute to this process. 

To help structure your feedback, COATE proposes the following questions:

  • Q1. Background and rationale: How important do you consider sound tax expenditure reporting as a driver of tax expenditure reform? Does the draft adequately reflect this, or would you suggest any changes?
  • Q2. Scope and structure: Do the proposed four principles and twelve indicators capture the key elements of effective tax expenditure reporting? Are there important aspects that are missing or should be reconsidered? Does the overall structure make sense?
  • Q3. Ambition and impact: Are the proposed principles and indicators appropriately ambitious while remaining achievable for most countries? Do you believe they would contribute to meaningful improvements in reporting practices?
  • Q4. Use and implementation: Would you or your organisation find these voluntary minimum requirements useful in your own work?
  • Q5. Monitoring and communication: Would it be valuable for COATE to monitor and communicate countries' progress in implementing the minimum requirements?

ATI members are invited to submit their written inputs by 30 September 2026 and to join the consultation.