ICTD

What ICTD does

ICTD (International Centre for Tax and Development) is an independent research organization based at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, dedicated to improving tax policy and administration in lower-income countries through collaborative research and engagement. Founded in 2010, the organization employs between 11 and 50 staff and operates across nine thematic areas including Tax Administration and Compliance, Climate and Environmental Tax, Digital Public Infrastructure and Tax, Tax and Governance, Gender and Tax, Informality and Tax, International Tax, Subnational and Property Tax, and Taxing High-Net-Worth Individuals, supported by five research programmes and country networks (DIGITAX, Gender and Tax Community of Practice, Local Government Revenue Initiative, Ethiopian Tax Research Network, Nigerian Tax Research Network). Its core offerings are knowledge products — a nine-month Research on Tax and Development course, working papers and policy briefs, an online Learning Portal, datasets, and a competitive research grants programme — all distributed free of charge.

The organization's business model is donor-funded rather than commercial. ICTD receives multi-year grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UKaid (FCDO, including through the REMIT Pakistan programme), and NORAD, and sustains its operations through these institutional funders plus supplementary research grants. It maintains embedded research partnerships with revenue authorities in Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, Eswatini, Pakistan, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and other jurisdictions, enabling access to anonymized taxpayer data for empirical studies. Distribution is digital-first through its website and a MailChimp newsletter, complemented by social media, international conference participation, regional forums (e.g., the Lusaka Future of Tax Reform forum with ZRA in July 2026), and the annual training course. ICTD is a founding member of the Coalition on Tax Expenditure Reform (COATE), a 2025 Sevilla Platform for Action initiative endorsed by nine governments and UNDP to set minimum reporting standards for tax expenditures globally.

Name

ICTD

Legal name

International Centre for Tax and Development

Website

https://ictd.ac

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ICTD is an independent research organization at the University of Sussex's Institute of Development Studies that produces evidence-based research, training, and policy engagement to improve tax policy and administration in lower-income countries for revenue authorities, researchers, and policymakers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Development Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance (BPADAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Revenue Systems, E-Filing & Digital Tax Administration (BPAIADAO)

Keywords

• Tax policy research
• Tax administration
• Development finance
• Capacity building
• Public finance research

Headquarters

HQ city

Brighton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donor Funding: ICTD operates as a research center funded primarily by major development donors. The organization receives support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UKaid (FCDO), and NORAD. These donors fund ICTD's research programs, capacity building initiatives including the annual Research on Tax and Development course, and knowledge dissemination activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ICTD is an international research center that produces evidence-based research, publications, training, and policy analysis on tax policy and administration in lower-income countries. Its core offerings include collaborative research with revenue authorities, a suite of research publications and policy briefs, the Research on Tax and Development training course, a public Learning Portal, tax-related datasets, and thematic research programmes such as DIGITAX.

Product overview

ICTD (International Centre for Tax and Development) is a research organization based at the Institute of Development Studies that offers a portfolio of knowledge products and programmes focused on improving tax policy and administration in lower-income countries. Its core offerings include the Research on Tax and Development Course (a nine-month training programme), research publications (working papers, policy briefs, journal articles), a Learning Portal with lectures and resources, datasets, and thematic research programmes such as DIGITAX. The organization does not offer a traditional software product but rather provides educational, research, and capacity-building services to tax administrators, researchers, and policymakers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DIGITAX Research Programme: Research programme on digital taxation and development
• Gender and Tax Community of Practice
• Local Govt. Revenue Initiative (LoGRI)
• Ethiopian Tax Research Network
• Nigerian Tax Research Network

Products and services

• Research on Tax and Development Course A nine-month blended course combining online and in-person training on tax and development research methodologies, offered free of charge (with ICTD covering travel and internet costs) to researchers, tax administrators, civil society activists, and academics from lower-income countries.
• Research Publications Library of working papers, policy briefs, research in briefs, and journal articles on tax policy and administration in lower-income countries, freely downloadable from the ICTD website.
• Learning Portal Online platform offering lectures, reading lists, and literature reviews on six tax and development topics including international tax, property taxation, tax administration and compliance, tax and gender, tax and governance, and tax and informality.
• Tax and Development Datasets Collection of tax-related datasets that support research on domestic resource mobilization in lower-income countries.
• DIGITAX Research Programme Research programme focusing on digitalization and taxation in lower-income countries, examining how digital public infrastructure impacts tax systems.
• Research Grants Programme Competitive grant programme supporting collaborative research on tax and development in lower-income countries.

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core, major and minor.

• Coalition on Tax Expenditure Reform (COATE)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ICTD is a founding member of COATE, a global multistakeholder initiative launched in 2025 as a Sevilla Platform for Action initiative. COATE brings together five institutions (ICTD, Council on Economic Policies, German Institute of Development and Sustainability, IISD, ODI Global) to advocate for minimum reporting standards for tax expenditures globally. COATE has been endorsed by the governments of Brazil, France, Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Spain, UK, and UNDP.
• Institute of Development Studies (IDS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerICTD is hosted at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. ICTD staff are based at IDS and collaborate on research publications, events, and the Learning Portal. IDS holds copyright to ICTD/IDS publications.
• UNU-WIDERmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNU-WIDER collaborated with ICTD and Uganda Revenue Authority on research examining the impact of e-invoicing (EFRIS) on VAT compliance in Uganda, published as 'The Panopticon Taxman' research paper.
• Zambia Revenue AuthoritymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerICTD and ZRA partnered to host a two-day forum on the future of tax reform in Lusaka, focused on identifying effective and equitable strategies for tax reform in Zambia.
• Uganda Revenue AuthoritymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing research partnership with URA including collaborative work on rental income taxation, cryptocurrency taxation, e-invoicing impacts, and AI applications in tax administration. URA's Research Day featured ICTD research.
• REMIT PakistanmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerICTD supports the REMIT (Revenue Mobilisation, Revenue and Trade) programme, a five-year FCDO-funded technical assistance programme implemented by Adam Smith International to support Pakistan's tax reforms. ICTD provides research support and documented the Digital Eye technology initiative.
• Eswatini Revenue ServicemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research partnership on digital tax payments and compliance, examining the impact of the 2021 zero-cash-handling mandate. Research published in International Tax and Public Finance journal.
• African Tax Administration ForumminorOthersATAF is referenced as a supporting organization for tax expenditure reform efforts, working alongside COATE and its founding organizations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Council on Economic Policies (CEP): CEP is a Zurich-based economic policy think tank and fellow COATE founding member focused on fiscal policy, tax policy, and sustainable finance — overlapping with ICTD on tax expenditure research and policy advisory work.
• International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD): IISD is a COATE co-founder and an internationally-recognised policy research organisation covering sustainable development, including tax expenditure and fiscal policy — a direct peer on global tax policy research and advocacy.
• Institute of Development Studies (IDS): IDS is ICTD's host institution at the University of Sussex and operates in the same development research space. It is the closest peer — sharing facilities, staff, publications, and copyright, and targeting similar researcher and policymaker audiences.
• ODI Global (Overseas Development Institute): ODI is a fellow COATE founding member and a leading global development think tank with comparable policy research, advisory, and convening functions. It directly overlaps with ICTD on tax-for-development research and government advisory mandates.
• German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS): IDOS is a COATE co-founder and a leading German development research institute working on tax policy, governance, and sustainability — directly comparable to ICTD in mandate, audience, and convening role.

Emerging players

• Tax Justice Network: Tax Justice Network is an independent international network focused on tax havens, financial secrecy, and progressive tax policy. It overlaps with ICTD's international tax, governance, and high-net-worth taxation research themes and targets similar civil society audiences.

Regional players

• African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF): ATAF is an African regional organisation supporting revenue authorities across the continent with research, training, and advisory — a strong regional peer whose member base overlaps heavily with ICTD's African tax authority partnerships.

Broad incumbents

• World Bank — Global Tax Program: The World Bank's Global Tax Program provides advisory, research, and capacity building on tax policy and administration to developing countries. It is a broad incumbent serving the same revenue authorities ICTD engages, but with larger budgets and policy levers.
• International Monetary Fund — Fiscal Affairs Department: The IMF Fiscal Affairs Department is a much larger incumbent providing tax policy technical assistance and capacity building to lower-income countries — overlapping significantly with ICTD's mandate and customer base, but at a vastly greater scale.
• UNDP — Tax for SDGs: UNDP's Tax for SDGs initiative supports domestic resource mobilisation in developing countries and works alongside ICTD in COATE. It is a broad incumbent with similar mission and government counterpart relationships.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ICTDTax
• Facebookfacebook.com/ICTDTax
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ictdtax
• Xx.com/ICTDTax

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ICTD