Raising a higher share of the value added in an economy for the public purpose is associated with state building, modern economic growth and development. From 2002-3 to date, low- and lower-middle income countries raised total tax and non-tax revenue from 11-12% and 18-19 % of GDP up to 17-18 % and 25-26 % of GDP in 2014-15. Continuing to improve tax systems is key to realizing the development dividend available today through improved technology and institutions, whereby it is possible to raise living standards faster and at lower cost. The remaining development challenges are
significant for the majority of the world’s population and therefore the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed in 2015 to address these challenges. The majority of the financing for the SDGs must come from domestic sources (as it did with the Millennium Development Goals, with a 77 per cent share). This paper finds a significant group of developing countries that receive limited assistance and have both large needs and large potential in terms of tax and revenue. The top ten countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. Links are provided to the Norwegian partner country categorisation to illustrate the correlation between these two types of country ranking/prioritisation. Finally, other factors relating to donor partner analysis and dialogue are discussed, including political and administrative prioritisation of revenue reforms, absorptive capacity in institutions, and the likelihood of particular interventions delivering results.
