Welcome to the Tax Transparency Video Series by the International Budget Partnership! Join Emeritus Professor Richard Murphy and Professor Andrew Baker from the University of Sheffield as they introduce this comprehensive 32-video course on why tax transparency matters for governments, citizens, and society.
Discover how understanding tax systems leads to better public services, increased accountability, and stronger democratic institutions. This series, created in partnership with Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) and the University of Sheffield, explores the vital role tax plays beyond just raising revenue – from economic justice to social inclusion.
Perfect for policymakers, civil society advocates, and anyone who wants to understand how transparent tax systems benefit everyone. The course material is based on the GIFT Transparency Principles for Tax Policy and Administration and the seminal publication, Making Tax Work.
Copyright © 2025 The University of Sheffield. These videos are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence.
The Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) has developed comprehensive Transparency Principles for Tax Policy and Administration, approved in August 2022, to address critical gaps in how governments share tax information with citizens.
What is Tax Transparency?
Tax transparency means making quantitative and qualitative data about tax systems publicly available so citizens can hold decision-makers accountable and assess whether their tax system is working effectively and fairly.
The 14 Principles
GIFT’s framework includes 14 principles ranging from basic to aspirational levels. Essential principles require governments to publish clear tax objectives, provide accessible taxpayer information, codify all taxes through legislative processes with meaningful public consultation, and protect taxpayer confidentiality.
Advanced principles cover tax gap reporting, evaluation of tax incentives, independent data verification, and international collaboration on tax assessments.
Why It Matters
These principles promote trust between governments and citizens, enable meaningful public participation in tax policy debates, and ensure tax systems serve the broader public interest through enhanced transparency and accountability mechanisms.
The Making Tax Work ( MTW ) report sets out a case for achieving greater transparency in the governance and management of national tax systems. It identifies a variety of mechanisms and pathways for achieving that outcome, with the aim of informing the efforts of the wider international community in that endeavour. MTW identifies the responsibilities and obligations of governments, the levels of transparency they should aspire to, the role of international organisations in assisting and facilitating these processes, and how a variety of stakeholders could be involved in and benefit from enhanced tax transparency, including governments and their revenue agencies.