Tax Expenditures in : Scale, Equity Impact and Reform Pathways for Children Consultancy Remote

Job no: 595877
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Nairobi
Level: Consultancy
Location: United States
Categories: Programme Management

Contract Duration – 8 months

Working arrangement:
Home Based

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

Governments across Africa forgo significant revenue through tax expenditures such as exemptions, deductions, credits, preferential rates and tax holidays. In 32 African countries with available data, these incentives cost at least USD 56 billion annually, equivalent to 2% of GDP and 18% of tax revenue in the median country. Unlike direct spending, tax expenditures are rarely scrutinized, approved, time-limited or evaluated, and little is known about who benefits.

Most reported tax expenditures lack a clear policy objective, beneficiary group or sector classification, making their impacts on children and poor households largely invisible at a time of rising fiscal pressure and debt burdens. This assignment will assess the scale, composition and equity implications of tax expenditures across Africa, examine how they are granted and reviewed, identify lessons from reform efforts, and support UNICEF country offices in engaging governments on the issue.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy on the detailed deliverables and expected outcomes, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:
TMC
0006094 TOR.pdf

Include the minimum requirements as per the approved TOR. Ensure that the vacancy criteria are fully aligned with the qualification for the assignment.

• Education: Master’s - Economics, public finance, taxation, public policy, development economics or a closely related field
• Work Experience:
  • Minimum seven years of professional experience in tax policy, public finance or domestic revenue mobilisation, including substantive work in African contexts.
  • Demonstrated experience analysing tax expenditures, tax incentives or fiscal cost estimation. Familiarity with the Global Tax Expenditures Database, the Global Tax Expenditures Transparency Index or equivalent national tax expenditure reporting is a strong advantage.

• Skills
  • Strong quantitative and data analysis skills, including demonstrated ability to construct comparable cross-country datasets from heterogeneous national sources and to produce clear, publication-quality data visualisations.
  • Demonstrated ability to analyse the distributional and equity impacts of fiscal policy. Experience with child-focused or poverty-focused public finance analysis is an advantage.
  • Track record of producing analytical writing of publication standard for both technical and policy or advocacy audiences.

• Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in English is required. Working proficiency in French is highly desirable, given the concentration of detailed tax expenditure reporting in francophone West Africa.

Established professional networks among relevant institutions (COATE member organisations, ATAF, ATRN, ICTD, ODI Global, IISD) an advantage.

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