Autorités fiscales semi-autonomes en Afrique sub-saharienne: remède miracle ou éléphant blanc? || Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authorities in sub-Saharan Africa: Silver Bullet or White Elephant? Research in Brief

La création d’autorités fiscales semi-autonomes (SARA) est une composante majeure de la réforme de l’administration fiscale qui se déroule depuis trente ans en Afrique subsaharienne. Les SARA fonctionnent en marge du ministère des finances, les distinguant des administrations fiscales conventionnelles. Elles ont un statut juridique indépendant, et intègrent généralement des fonctions à la fois douanières et fiscales. Bien que la plupart des SARA aient un cadre institutionnel commun, il peut y avoir des différences en matière de compétences de jure, en termes de plan organisationnel et de responsabilités, ainsi que des différences dans leur autonomie de facto par rapport au ministère des finances. Les recherches existantes concluent en grande partie qu’il existe une corrélation positive entre la mise en place de SARA et l’augmentation de la collecte de recettes. Cependant, nos récentes recherches montrent qu’il n’y a aucune preuve robuste à l’appui. A major component of tax administration reform in sub-Saharan Africa over the last thirty years has been the creation of semi-autonomous revenue authorities (SARAs). These operate at arm’s length from the ministry of finance, which is different to conventional tax administrations. They have an independent legal status, and usually integrate both customs and tax functions. While most SARAs have a similar institutional framework, they may have different de jure competences, organisational set-up and responsibilities, and differences in their de facto autonomy from the ministry of finance. This ring-fencing of tax collection from political interference is supposed to improve tax compliance and collection compared to conventional tax administrations. By handing control over to an independent authority, governments can signal a credible commitment to a fairer and less discretionary collection process that should boost compliance. In addition, increases in human resources, budget, organisational and financial autonomy might create the managerial space and flexibility needed to overcome rigid civil service structures, allowing the administration to operate more effectively. However, to the extent to which different SARAs share the same institutional blueprint, there is a risk that the reform remains blind to local political and societal sensitivities, which could undermine its effectiveness. Existing research largely concludes that there is a positive correlation between the establishment of SARAs and increases in revenue collection. However, our recent research shows that there is no robust evidence to substantiate this.