On May 27, at 8:45 am, EDT, at the World Bank’s event, the Prosperity Collaborative was official launched. Dr. Marcello Estevão, Global Director, Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment, the World Bank gave keynote speech about this coalition.
The website of the World Bank wrote: “The Prosperity Collaborative’s inaugural online event shared strategies that can help tax bureaus manage the crisis and serve their constituents. Our first online panel will focus on how tax administrations can remain resilient and responsive to new demands during the pandemic. Our second online panel explores how innovative technology can help leaders in public finance build stronger, more effective institutions.
This event was hosted by the Prosperity Collaborative, a coalition of the World Bank, MIT, EY, the Digital Impact and Governance Initiative at New America, and the Boston Global Forum Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation. We bring together a diverse set of leading organizations from the public sector, private sector, academia, and civil society to develop new open source technologies and digital public goods that will transform tax systems and enhance local capacity with an initial focus on emerging economies.”
At the event, panelists discussed “Technology and Tax During and Beyond the Coronavirus Pandemic”
Here are some quotes from this event:
“The Prosperity Collaborative will fill a gap by developing digital public goods for the use by the many.”
“This is agenda about great people enabled by great technologies.”
“We need the private sector, civil society, and government to come together to develop technology solutions.”
Mr. Jeffrey Saviano, Global Innovation Lead – Tax, EY
“Many developed markets have a lot to learn from the IT platforms used by developing countries”
Ms. Kate Barton, Global Vice-Chair – Tax, EY
“The Corona-crisis has shifted transfers to mobile payment systems and consumption to low taxable goods.”
“The Corona-crisis is forcing us to rethink our work, for example the role of onsite vs. offsite audits.”
“We are developing a system that will transfer transaction data to the tax authority in real time.”
Dr. Terra Saidimu, Commissioner Intelligence and Strategic Operations, Kenya Revenue Authority
“We need to find a way to tax digital services to pay for the infrastructure that the services rely on.”
“The only way to address the many challenges in modern taxation is through experimentation.”
Mr. Alex Pentland, Professor, MIT
“Tax administrations need to embrace technologies that serve everyone in their ecosystem.”
Ms. Kate Barton, Global Vice-Chair – Tax, EY
“This is agenda about great people enabled by great technologies.”
“We need the private sector, civil society, and government to come together to develop technology solutions.”
Mr. Jeffrey Saviano, Global Innovation Lead – Tax, EY
“We are seeing a convergence of technology and citizen services.”
“We can use the global crisis to show what goes wrong, if we don’t cooperate to develop the global public goods and infrastructure.”
“Tax data can provide insights into our economic levers. Why are we not using this information?
Ms. Jacky Wright, Chief Digital Officer, Microsoft
“We need to build rewards into our tax systems. We need to make it more exciting to pay taxes.”
Mr. Tomicah Tillermann, New America
“Next time in Davos, I would like to hold leaders accountable for digital for public good.”
Ms. Jacky Wright, Chief Digital Officer, Microsoft
“I’d wish there was a way that I as a taxpayer could know what has be done with my money.”
Her Excellency Serey Chea, Director General, National Bank of Cambodia