Forschungsdaten

Global Tax Expenditures Transparency Index (GTETI)

Redonda, Agustin / Lucas Millan / Flurim Aliu / Christian von Haldenwang / Sofia Berg
Forschungsdaten (2026)

Zürich / Bonn: Council on Economic Policies / German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19820675
Open access

Governments use tax expenditures (TEs) – also called tax breaks, tax reliefs or tax subsidies – to pursue a variety of policy goals. TEs are deviations from the benchmark or standard tax system that provide preferential tax treatment to individuals or businesses. They can trigger substantial tax revenue losses. According to the Global Tax Expenditures Database (GTED), the global average of revenue forgone due to TEs among the 116 countries that published such data at least once is 3.8 percent of GDP and 23.0 percent of tax revenue over the 1990-2024 period. 

The Global Tax Expenditures Transparency Index (GTETI)  is the first comparative assessment of tax expenditures (TEs) reporting that covers countries worldwide. Countries are assessed on five dimensions: (1) Public availability, (2) Institutional Framework, (3) Methodology and Scope, (4) descriptive TE Data, and (5) TE Assessment. The GTETI 2.1 provides a systematic framework to rank the 105 countries which reported on tax expenditures between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2024. It asseses the regularity, quality and scope of their TE reports and aims to increase transparency and accountability in the tax expenditures field.

See also:

The Global Tax Expenditures Transparancy Index: Companion paper (May 2026)
Redonda, Agustin / Lucas Millan-Narotzky / Christian von Haldenwang / Sofia Berg / Flurim Aliu
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)/Council on Economic Policies (CEP)