A tributação da economia digital na prática: Impostos sobre os serviços digitais e outras medidas
Por Natalia Quiñones, Anchal Khandelwal, Oluwole Olushola Oni, Maryam Maiyaki, Doris Malgwi, Ezekiel Swema, Nickson Omondi, Ivy Watti, Dinesh Thapa, Anne Wanyagathi Maina e Kolawole Omole
As empresas digitais continuam a crescer e a gerar receitas substanciais em jurisdições de mercado sem manter uma presença física. Baseiam-se principalmente em ativos intangíveis, dados de utilizadores e envolvimento dos utilizadores. As regras fiscais internacionais não acompanharam estes desenvolvimentos, deixando muitas jurisdições incapazes de tributar eficazmente a atividade económica digital. Em resposta, os países introduziram medidas nacionais, tais como os Impostos sobre Serviços Digitais (DST), as taxas de equalização e os impostos sobre a Presença Económica Significativa (SEP), continuando simultaneamente a envolver-se em esforços multilaterais. Este artigo examina a forma como os países implementaram tais medidas. O estudo aplica estudos de caso estruturados da Colômbia, Índia, Quénia, Nepal, Nigéria e Tanzânia. Analisa os quadros jurídicos, as práticas administrativas e os resultados em termos de receitas dos países, identificando simultaneamente características comuns e diferenças fundamentais nas abordagens de implementação. O artigo explora os fundamentos conceptuais e as justificações teóricas para tributar as receitas digitais na fonte, destacando as limitações das atuais regras de repartição de lucros que ignoram o papel do mercado. Com base nas experiências destes países, o estudo desenvolve um quadro de aprendizagem entre pares assente nas melhores práticas emergentes, reconhecendo simultaneamente os desafios da implementação. O estudo propõe, em seguida, vias para a harmonização das medidas fiscais digitais e delineia elementos essenciais de conceção para informar o desenvolvimento do protocolo preliminar sobre a tributação de serviços transfronteiriços (que inclui serviços digitais) ao abrigo da Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas sobre Cooperação Fiscal Internacional.
La fiscalidad de la economía digital en la práctica: Impuestos sobre los servicios digitales y otras medidas
Por Natalia Quiñones, Anchal Khandelwal, Oluwole Olushola Oni, Maryam Maiyaki, Doris Malgwi, Ezekiel Swema, Nickson Omondi, Ivy Watti, Dinesh Thapa, Anne Wanyagathi Maina y Kolawole Omole
Las empresas digitales siguen creciendo y generando ingresos sustanciales en jurisdicciones de mercado sin mantener una presencia física. Dependen principalmente de los activos intangibles, los datos de usuarios y la interacción de los usuarios. Las normas fiscales internacionales no han seguido el ritmo de estos avances, lo que ha dejado a muchas jurisdicciones sin la capacidad de gravar eficazmente la actividad económica digital. En respuesta, varios países han introducido medidas nacionales, como los Impuestos sobre Servicios Digitales (ISD), los gravámenes de compensación y los impuestos sobre Presencia Económica Significativa (PES), al tiempo que continúan participando en iniciativas multilaterales. Este documento examina cómo los países han aplicado estas medidas. El estudio abarca casos prácticos estructurados de Colombia, India, Kenia, Nepal, Nigeria y Tanzania. Analiza los marcos jurídicos, las prácticas administrativas y los resultados en materia de recaudación de estos países, además de identificar características comunes y principales diferencias en los enfoques de implementación. El documento explora los fundamentos conceptuales y las justificaciones teóricas para gravar los ingresos digitales en el país de la fuentela fuente, destacando las limitaciones de las normas actuales de asignación de beneficios que pasan por alto el papel del mercado. A partir de las experiencias de estos países, el estudio desarrolla un marco de aprendizaje entre pares basado en las mejores prácticas emergentes, reconociendo al mismo tiempo los desafíos en la implementación. Finalmente, el estudio propone vías para armonizar las medidas fiscales digitales y describe los elementos esenciales de diseño que deben tenerse en cuenta en la elaboración del protocolo inicial sobre la fiscalidad de los servicios transfronterizos (incluidos los servicios digitales) en el marco de la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre Cooperación Internacional en Materia Tributaria.
La fiscalité de l’économie numérique en pratique : les taxes sur les services numériques et autres mesures
Par Natalia Quiñones, Anchal Khandelwal, Oluwole Olushola Oni, Maryam Maiyaki, Doris Malgwi, Ezekiel Swema, Nickson Omondi, Ivy Watti, Dinesh Thapa, Anne Wanyagathi Maina et Kolawole Omole
Les entreprises numériques continuent de se développer et de générer des revenus substantiels dans les juridictions du marché sans y maintenir de présence physique. Elles s’appuient principalement sur des actifs incorporels, les données des utilisateurs et leur engagement. Les règles fiscales internationales n’ont pas suivi le rythme de ces évolutions, laissant de nombreuses juridictions dans l’incapacité de taxer efficacement l’activité économique numérique. En réponse, certains pays ont mis en place des mesures nationales, telles que les taxes sur les services numériques (TSN), les prélèvements d’égalisation et les taxes sur la présence économique significative (SEP), tout en poursuivant leurs efforts multilatéraux. Le présent document examine la manière dont les pays ont mis en œuvre ces mesures. L’étude s’appuie sur des études de cas structurées portant sur la Colombie, l’Inde, le Kenya, le Népal, le Nigeria et la Tanzanie. Elle analyse les cadres juridiques, les pratiques administratives et les résultats en matière de recettes de ces pays, tout en identifiant les caractéristiques communes et les principales différences dans les approches de mise en œuvre. Le document explore les fondements conceptuels et les justifications théoriques de l’imposition des revenus numériques à la source, en soulignant les limites des règles actuelles de répartition des bénéfices qui négligent le rôle du marché. S’appuyant sur ces expériences nationales, l’étude élabore un cadre d’apprentissage par les pairs fondé sur les meilleures pratiques émergentes, tout en reconnaissant les défis liés à la mise en œuvre. L’étude propose ensuite des pistes pour harmoniser les mesures fiscales numériques et décrit les éléments de conception essentiels pour éclairer l’élaboration du premier protocole sur la fiscalité des services transfrontaliers (qui inclut les services numériques) dans le cadre de la Convention-cadre des Nations Unies sur la coopération fiscale internationale.
Into the Void: The Inflation Reduction Act Panel Ruling and the Crisis of WTO Reform
By Vahini Naidu
On 30 January 2026, a WTO Panel ruled that the domestic content bonus credits under the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act violated the GATT 1994, the TRIMs Agreement, and the SCM Agreement. The United States appealed the ruling to a non-functional Appellate Body, sending it into a legal void. Read against the backdrop of WTO reform discussions that culminated at the Fourteenth Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé in March 2026, the ruling is far more than a bilateral dispute. It exposes the central contradictions in the reform agenda: the Members most vocally demanding new disciplines on others’ subsidy practices have themselves demonstrated both the willingness to operate prohibited measures and the capacity to do so without meaningful consequence. This paper unpacks the Panel’s findings, situates them within the post MC14 reform process, and draws out the implications for developing countries. It argues that the Level Playing Field track must be reframed around compliance symmetry and policy space; that dispute settlement restoration must be decoupled from other reform tracks; that the African Group’s call for reinstatement of non-actionable subsidy categories under Article 8 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) is the most operationally precise developing country proposal currently on the table; and that the United States’ parallel push to render Article XXI(b) fully self-judging threatens to create a zone of immunity for industrial policy that is structurally unavailable to the majority of developing countries.
South Centre Statement to the First Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance
Geneva, 6-7 July 2026
AI governance needs implementation of multilateral commitments, backed by financing & measurable progress. International cooperation & AI capacity-building for the Global South is key to leverage AI for development.
South Centre Statement to the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization: Sixty-Eighth Series of Meetings, July 7 to 15, 2026
Statement delivered today by the South Centre at the 68th Series of Meetings of the WIPO Assemblies (Geneva, 7–15 July 2026):
The South Centre reaffirmed that development is integral to WIPO’s mandate as a UN specialized agency, and that IP rules must strike a fair balance with the public interest — including access to educational materials, health technologies, and green technologies — in line with the SDGs.
Key points raised:
🔹 As the WIPO Development Agenda approaches its 20th anniversary, the Assemblies should reaffirm and strengthen it in 2027.
🔹 Concern that standing committees are not reporting to the General Assembly on Development Agenda implementation, as decided in 2017.
🔹 A call for real progress on copyright limitations and exceptions, and on protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.
🔹 A call on the Coordination Committee to respect geographical and gender balance in staff recruitment under Staff Regulation 4.2 — flagging that the proposed Deputy Director General appointments skew toward developed countries and reduce gender balance, leaving three regional groups, including Asia and the Pacific, unrepresented.
The South Centre reiterated its commitment to supporting developing countries and LDCs, including graduating members, in using the full policy space and flexibilities of the IP system to meet their development needs.
ADVANCING THE RIGHT TO HEALTH AND GLOBAL HEALTH EQUITY THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW
Co-organized by the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI) and South Centre
8 September 2026
4:00 to 6:00 pm
Followed by cocktail
Kyoto Building, 3rd Floor, Chemin du Pommier 42, 1218 Le Grand Saconnex
(also online)
This Ambassadorial Dialogue will bring together ambassadors and senior delegates to exchange views, in a spirit of South-South cooperation, on how the UPR can serve as a practical mechanism for advancing the right to health and promoting global health equity. The dialogue will bridge work at the Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization, at a decisive moment for the Pandemic Agreement and equitable access to health products. The event will launch the South Centre Toolkit on Leveraging the UPR to Advance the Right to Health of Women and Girls, and present CeHDI’s Health and Rights Observatory, a digital platform for analysing UPR health outputs and tracking right to health commitments, both designed for direct use by delegations.
Reform Proposals on Decision-Making at the WTO: Mapping the Consensus Debate in the light of the Marrakesh Agreement
By Vahini Naidu
This Analytical Note maps the consensus and decision-making proposals advanced in the pre- and post-MC14 WTO reform communications in the light of the Marrakesh Agreement. For each proposal it asks the same question: if the proposal were adopted, what in the Agreement would have to change, and through which legal route? The submissions are sorted into four analytical groups according to their effect on the consensus rule, and for the proposals that engage the Agreement’s text, the Note identifies whether the route is amendment, authoritative interpretation, a change to the Rules of Procedure, or an arrangement outside the Agreement, and sets out the procedure the Agreement prescribes.
The Note shows that Article IX:1, the consensus rule, and Article X:9, governing the incorporation of plurilateral agreements into Annex 4, are both entrenched by Article X:2, so that an amendment to either will take effect only upon acceptance by all Members.
A plurilateral agreement concluded and implemented outside the WTO requires no amendment to the Marrakesh Agreement. Article II:3 has no bearing on such an agreement until it is incorporated into Annex 4, and only that step of incorporation engages Article X:9 and its consensus requirement. The authoritative-interpretation power under Article IX:2 cannot be used to undermine Article X and therefore cannot substitute for amendment where the object is to change the consensus or incorporation rules.
Decolonising Intellectual Property Law: An Afrocentric Approach
A book review
By Nkem Itanyi
This paper examines Decolonising Intellectual Property Law: An Afrocentric Approach as a transformative intervention in global intellectual property (IP) discussions. Drawing on the book’s central claim that contemporary IP frameworks were designed for Western priorities and subsequently imposed on Africa through colonial legal transplantation, the paper evaluates how Eurocentric assumptions about creativity, ownership, and individual authorship have displaced African systems of communal knowledge governance.
Side Event at the 62nd Session of the Human Rights Council
DRTD@40 and Sustainable Development Agenda: Youth Perspectives on the Right to Development in the Global South
Co-organized by South Centre, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the University for Peace
3 July 2026, 12h-13h, Room XVI, Palais des Nations, Geneva
As we mark 40 years since the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development (DRTD), it is crucial to ensure that youth perspectives are represented in the post-2030 agenda. Youth in the Global South—the largest generation in history—face unique structural challenges, including digital divides, systemic debt distress, and limited policy space for industrialisation.
This event provides a platform to amplify youth voices on structural economic reform, digital sovereignty, and intergenerational justice.
Let’s bridge normative Right to Development frameworks with lived experiences. Join us in shaping the future of the Right to Development!
TOOLKIT: Leveraging the Universal Periodic Review to Advance the Rights of Women and Girls to the Highest Attainable Standards of Health
By Daniel Uribe Terán
This Toolkit serves as an operational guide for State officials, policymakers, civil society organisations (CSOs), national human rights institutions (NHRIs), and healthcare professionals on how to leverage the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism. The primary focus is advancing the rights of women and girls to the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health, with a specific focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
The toolkit outlines the international normative frameworks, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), that establish state obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil these rights, as set out in the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality (AAAQ) framework. It details evidence-gathering strategies using a Human Rights-Based Approach to Data (HRBAD), guidelines for drafting impactful stakeholder or “shadow” reports, and the integration of specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) recommendations. Furthermore, it emphasises national implementation mechanisms, showcasing digital tracking innovations like Paraguay’s System for Monitoring Recommendations (SIMORE) and the Pacific region’s Integrated Management and Planning of Actions Open Source Software (IMPACT OSS). Real-world state reporting dynamics are illustrated through 4th-cycle UPR report excerpts from Mexico, South Africa, and Costa Rica.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water: Making Wealth Taxes Work in Developing Countries
By Anne Wanyagathi Maina
As debt burdens rise, fiscal space narrows, and inequality rises, developing countries continue to struggle to finance development needs without resorting to regressive taxation or triggering social unrest. In this context, wealth taxation is gaining renewed attention as an alternative. This policy brief explores the relevance and feasibility of net wealth taxes in developing countries, reviewing the implementation experiences in Latin America and Africa, as well as key criticisms and objections, which range from efficiency concerns, administrative challenges, limited revenue yield, to political resistance. The brief argues that these challenges can be overcome through a well-designed wealth tax supported by international cooperation and domestic reforms to improve capacity and transparency. It calls for more research from a developing-country perspective on the effectiveness of such taxes and urges governments to pursue carefully designed wealth taxes aligned with national priorities to support progressive and sustainable revenue mobilization.
