United nations of tax incentives

Introduction
This publication is a result of a project, undertaken jointly by the 
Financing for Development Office (FfDO) of the United Nations 
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) and the 
Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT), aimed at 
strengthening the capacity of national tax administrations (NTAs) 
in developing countries in Latin America to measure net benefits of 
tax incentives. The ultimate goal of this project was to support the 
development of a theoretical framework and an empirical methodology 
to design and assess tax incentives, which could assist in identifying 
possible reforms aimed at improving their efficiency.
The project was funded through the United Nations 
Development Account. The work was coordinated by a small team 
comprising both United Nations and CIAT officials, under the 
respective supervision of Mr. Alexander Trepelkov, Director, FfDO/
UN-DESA, and Mr. Márcio Verdi, Executive Secretary, CIAT. 
Within the FfDO, the work was managed by Ms. Dominika 
Halka, Chief, Multi-stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Branch, 
and Mr. Harry Tonino, Chief, Capacity Development Unit. Within 
CIAT, the work was coordinated by Mr. Santiago Díaz de Sarralde, Tax 
Studies and Research Director.
The project was implemented with the support of three 
consultants, namely: Mr. Eric M. Zolt, Mr. Peter Harris and Ms. 
Duanjie Chen. Mr. Zolt was responsible for developing the theoretical 
background; Mr. Harris developed a checklist for drafting tax 
incentives legislation and an accompanying commentary; and Ms. 
Chen worked on the practical analysis of tax incentives for the tourist 
industry in the Dominican Republic, with the technical support of 
the Ministry of Finance. The result of their work is presented in this 
publication, which was drafted in coordination with FfDO and CIAT.
This publication is divided into three Parts. Part I deals 
with the theoretical background of tax incentives and comprises two 
Chapters. Chapter I offers an overview of key concepts and issues 

---

viii
Design and Assessment of Tax Incentives
regarding tax incentives and their use to attract investment; Chapter 
II examines the benefits and costs of using tax incentives and presents 
important considerations for designing, granting and monitoring the 
use of tax incentives to increase investment and growth.