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.
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.
The South Centre’s Contributions to the Reform of the International Tax System
By Abdul Muheet Chowdhary
The South Centre has, over the last 30 years, contributed to major reforms to the international tax system to make it fairer and more equitable for developing countries. Some of the key impacts relate to the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation and updates to the UN Model Tax Convention to strengthen developing countries’ taxing rights on automated digital services, shipping and air transport, services more broadly, extractive industries, insurance premiums, computer software, offshore indirect transfers of capital gains, the subject to tax rule and wealth taxes. The South Centre also produced pioneering revenue estimates for its Member States on the UN and OECD solutions for taxing the digital economy.
A Regional Tax Cooperation Initiative Under the ECOWAS Framework
The South Centre is supporting two of its Member States, Liberia and Sierra Leone, in implementing a pilot Simultaneous Tax Examination on Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission. The pilot, which can generate potentially substantial tax revenues, will operationalize the ECOWAS Supplementary Act on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The pioneering pilot, potentially the first of its kind in the Global South, will develop audit capacity, generate domestic revenue, and build a model that can be scaled across other Member States of the South Centre and ECOWAS.
Read more in the press release jointly issued with ECOWAS and the governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone (également disponible en français/também disponível em português):
The South Centre carries out multiple activities to support developing countries with policy-oriented research, inputs and advice for negotiations and capacity building. The Report summarizes the South Centre’s activities in 2025 and highlights the contexts in which they were conducted as well as the objectives that were pursued with their implementation.
South Centre Inputs to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC) released three documents in January 2026 to inform negotiations at its Fourth Session, held in February 2026 in New York:
Co-Leads’ Concept Note (23 Jan 2026) prepared by Workstream III, presenting potential design features for dispute prevention and resolution protocol mechanisms.
The South Centre submitted inputs on the three documents on February 26 and March 6, 2026, following a call for input by the INC. The submissions are reproduced below:
OECD Two Pillar Solution: Designed to Prevent the Offshoring of High Tech Production to the Global South
By Abdul Muheet Chowdhary
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Two Pillar solution is a tool of the developed countries designed to: a) prevent Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) in frontier technologies like clean energy, computing, semiconductors, etc. from offshoring production to developing countries, and b) minimize Global North MNEs’ taxable profits in developing countries. The recent exemption of the United States’ MNEs from certain aspects of the OECD Global Minimum Tax further strengthens these objectives. South Centre Member States and other developing countries should resist pressures to adopt the Two Pillar solution and make informed, evidence-based decisions, while considering the benefits of other simpler and more beneficial alternatives.
Taxation of digital services – A Domestic Law Solution for Overcoming Tax Treaty Barriers
By Radhakishan Rawal
Tax treaty treatment of source taxation of cross-border services continues to be an unresolved issue even fifteen years after it was recognized as a major issue within the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. While the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Inclusive Framework’s Amount A of Pillar One does not seem to be getting finalised, at the United Nations (UN) an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) is working on a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation which will offer a solution to the issue. The success of the UN’s initiative will depend on how many developed countries sign the Framework Convention and relevant Protocols.
This article evaluates a Domestic Law Solution to the issue which was presented at the February 2026 session of INC at New York. As per this solution, the domestic law of the source country can define the term “profits of an enterprise” to exclude consideration for digital services and thus bypass treaty restrictions on source taxation. As a result of this, the source country will be able to levy tax on such income in terms of Article 21(3) of the tax treaties signed by it provided the wording of Article 21(3) is identical to that in the UN Model Tax Convention.
Digital businesses continue to grow and generate substantial revenue in market jurisdictions without maintaining a physical presence. They mainly rely on intangibles, user data and user engagement. International tax rules have not kept pace with these developments, leaving many jurisdictions unable to tax digital economic activity effectively. In response, countries have introduced national measures, such as Digital Services Taxes (DSTs), equalisation levies, and Significant Economic Presence (SEP) taxes, while continuing to engage in multilateral efforts. This paper examines how countries have implemented such measures. The study applies structured case studies of Colombia, India, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, and Tanzania. It analyzes the countries’ legal frameworks, administrative practices, and revenue outcomes, while also identifying shared features and key differences in implementation approaches. The paper explores the conceptual foundations and theoretical justifications for taxing digital revenues at source, highlighting the limitations of current profit allocation rules that overlook the role of the market. Drawing from these country experiences, the study develops a peer learning framework based on emerging best practices while recognizing the challenges in implementation. The study then proposes pathways for harmonizing digital tax measures and outlines essential design elements to inform the development of the early protocol on the taxation of cross border services (which includes digital services) under the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
South Centre Inputs on 2025-2029 Work Program of the UN Tax Committee
25 September 2025
The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General appointed a new Membership of the UN Tax Committee to hold office from 2025-2029. This includes Members nominated by Brazil, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, India, Jamaica, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone (all of them are members States of the South Centre). The Committee will hold its first meeting in October in Geneva, Switzerland, and will decide, among other things, the issues they should work on during the tenure of the new members. The Committee also issued a call for inputs to stakeholders to help shape this agenda.
To ensure that the four-year agenda contains topics of importance to South Centre Member States and developing countries more generally, the South Centre made a submission to the Committee which is reproduced below.
