Feminist Foreign Tax Policy: A Path to Gender Equality in International Taxation?

1.     Introduction

In a decentralized system of international taxation, intergovernmental organizations play a fundamental role in establishing, changing, and leading international tax policy and law-making. Consequently, the role of the state’s foreign tax policies is crucial to influencing the overall tax governance strategies of intergovernmental organizations. Considering the current phenomena at the UN in drafting a UN Tax Convention, the foreign tax policies of the Member States are more important than ever. The overarching aim of the UN Tax Convention is to form fully inclusive and more efficient tax cooperation. Furthermore, achieving gender equality and inclusivity in international taxation should also be considered within the scope of these goals. Despite the importance of gender-sensitive tax agendas, the gender dimension of international taxation tends to be under-focused. Fulfilling the stated aims would require considerable efforts and commitments by the Member States.

This blog post addresses the importance of gender-sensitive foreign tax policies in tackling structural inequalities that disproportionately affect the inclusivity of the international tax system. Accordingly, feminist foreign tax policy can shed light and guide the Member States in addressing gender inequalities. Following the feminist foreign tax policy can have three positive impacts on building fully inclusive international tax cooperation: 

•       Inclusion of gender issues in international tax law and policy-making agenda,
•       Building a gender-sensitive international tax cooperation at the UN,
•       Contributing to the effectiveness of other gender equality mechanisms.

2.     Understanding Feminist Foreign Policy

The concept of feminist foreign policy became known in 2014 with Sweden's initiation of gender equality concerns in their foreign policy.[1] Sweden based their feminist foreign policy approach on 3 Rs: strengthening all women's and girls' Rights, Representation, and Resources.[2] Their foreign policy mainly aimed to promote the full enjoyment of human rights for women and girls, participation and involvement in decision-making processes, and equal allocation of resources to women and girls. After Sweden, other countries such as Canada (2017), Luxembourg (2018), France (2018), Mexico (2020), Spain (2021), and the Netherlands (2022) also announced their commitment to feminist foreign policy.[3] Together with the increasingly salient commitment of the countries, feminist foreign policies have the potential to reveal gender structures and gender hierarchies, build a gender-sensitive agenda, eliminate gender injustices and inequalities, and promote the inclusion of women in policy-making structures.[4] 

The positive impacts of feminist foreign policies can be observed in practice to eliminate gender inequality. For instance, Sweden has closed 82.3% of its gender gap and has become the promoter of gender equality worldwide.[5] Similarly, Canada was successful in the COVID-19 responses to eliminate disproportionate influences of COVID-19 on women with the commitment to feminist foreign and domestic policy.[6] 

Despite the positive impacts of feminist foreign policies, these policies have also received criticism in the literature. One of the main criticisms focused on the lack of an agreed-upon definition of the concept of feminist foreign policies as it creates vagueness[7] and adversely affects the salience[8] of feminist foreign policy.[9] Accordingly, even though certain countries refer to the same concept, they might mean different things or prioritize different areas. For instance, Sweden approaches the feminist foreign policy as a goal for eliminating systemic gender equality, while Canada sees the policy as a tool for eliminating overall poverty.[10] Thus, it should be noted that different approaches by different countries and a lack of a shared understanding of feminist foreign policy might weaken the potential strengths of such policies, such as eliminating gender inequalities and gendered power structures and promoting gender-sensitive policy agendas.

3.     Bridging Feminist Ideas and International Taxation

While feminist foreign policy has gained traction, its potential application to international taxation remains underexplored. The role of the states in shaping the current international tax law and policy-making processes is crucial, considering their influence in agenda-setting through intergovernmental organizations such as the OECD and the UN. As gender inequality cannot be regarded as a domestic issue alone, it must also be addressed at the international level. 

The states can incorporate a gender-sensitive lens into the new international tax phenomena at the UN for establishing fully inclusive and more efficient tax cooperation through the UN Tax Convention. The commitment of the Member States to feminist foreign tax policy might lead to more concrete efforts to build a gender-sensitive agenda, eliminate gender injustices, and promote the inclusion of women in international tax law and policy-making processes.

It should be noted that although committing to feminist foreign tax policies is promising in theory, the countries already committed to feminist foreign policies did not raise any gender inequality concerns in the current UN international tax processes. For instance, Canada, France, Mexico, and the Netherlands submitted their inputs to the Ad Hoc Committee. Still, none referred to the concerns of gender inequalities embedded in the international tax structures.[11] This ignorance might be because the countries do not prioritize gender equality in tax-related issues in their agenda. For this reason, the Member States should attribute more attention and commit to gender-sensitive foreign tax policies to tackling structural inequalities that disproportionately affect women.

4.     Potential Impacts of Feminist Foreign Tax Policy on Gender Equality 

Feminist foreign tax policies promote the idea that gender equality in tax matters is not just a domestic issue but a global one. By adopting these policies, states can achieve significant progress in creating fully inclusive and gender-sensitive international tax cooperation. Some of the key positive impacts of following feminist foreign tax policy include:

• Inclusion of gender issues in international tax law and policy-making agenda: If the states follow feminist foreign tax policy, they could potentially point out gender injustices embedded in the current international tax system. Through that awareness, international tax laws and policies that are more gender-sensitive can be developed.
• Building a gender-sensitive international tax cooperation at the UN: Member States can commit to a gender-sensitive approach throughout the international tax law and policy-making process at the UN. Consequently, the UN Tax Convention can also reflect gender inequalities in international taxation. 
• Contributing to the effectiveness of other gender equality mechanisms: Promoting feminist foreign tax policy can amplify the impact of other gender equality mechanisms such as gender mainstreaming, women's empowerment programs, and more effective gender quota policies globally.

5.     Conclusion

Gender equality and gender inclusivity in the international tax system have long persisted as a neglected subject. Yet, this issue needs further analysis to build a fully inclusive international tax system. This blog post argued that feminist foreign tax policy would guide the Member States to incorporate gender inequality concerns into the international tax law and policy-making processes at the UN.