Tax Incentives: From an Investment, Tax, and Sustainable Development Perspective

The aim of this chapter is twofold. The first aim is to provide an overview of tax incentives in developing countries to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and the challenges for developing countries following the introduction of the OECD-G20 project to tackle base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) by multinationals. The use of tax incentives has been discussed extensively by scholars and international organizations with different views on the usefulness of tax incentives to promote economic growth and to attract FDI. This chapter argues that tax incentives in developing countries are needed to contribute to development of underdeveloped geographical areas and specific economic sectors or industries. This chapter also argues that developing countries should have a framework to evaluate the usefulness of tax incentives in light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This framework should be designed by each country and, if possible, taking into account the practices of other countries in the region so that countries can also exchange best practices. Therefore, the second aim of this chapter is to propose this evaluative framework.