This report presents insights from the newly released Global Tax Expenditures Database (GTED). Tax expenditures (TEs) are benefits granted to specific sectors, activities or groups through preferential tax treatments such as exemptions, deductions, credits, deferrals and lower tax rates. Governments use them, for example, to promote economic growth and attract investment, pursue social welfare objectives, and incentivise specific patterns of behaviour such as energy consumption from renewable sources. The GTED is the first database that documents TE reporting by governments worldwide, using a common set of criteria and indicators. It covers 218 countries and jurisdictions, 97 of which published at least some data on TEs since 1990.
