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The document examines how progressive taxation can address extreme poverty and economic inequality, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa. It evaluates several tax instruments, including Financial Transaction Taxes (FTTs), net wealth taxes, property taxes, and Resource Rent Taxes (RTT), detailing their potential to generate revenue for social protection and climate justice. Using South Africa as a case study, the brief provides specific revenue estimates for various progressive measures, such as a net wealth tax that could raise between R70 and R160 billion.

The policy brief advocates for the G20 to push the IMF for a new $650 billion SDR allocation to address the intersecting debt and climate crises in the Global South. It argues that SDRs are a critical alternative to debt-based financing, as they do not require repayment and can be used for fiscal support, climate adaptation, and mitigation. The brief also recommends that the IMF revert its accounting of SDRs from liabilities to equity (as per BPM5) to prevent artificial increases in debt-to-GDP ratios and facilitate the donation of unused SDRs from advanced economies to indebted nations.

The South African Tax Justice Working Group and allied organisations call for progressive tax reforms to combat extreme inequality and tax evasion. They urge the South African government to use its 2025 G20 presidency to champion international corporate tax reform and a wealth tax on the ultra-rich, while calling on the National Treasury to shift away from regressive domestic taxes like VAT.