Recent Submissions

  • Re-Evaluating Uganda’s Mobile Money Tax 

    Wales, Christopher (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-01)
    The current system for taxing mobile money in Uganda is widely disliked, unbalanced, and arguably distortionary. We show there is a case to re-evaluating it, with a view to principled reform. But there is also a case ...
  • A Tax Strategy for a Digital Uganda 

    Wales, Christopher (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-01)
    The Government of Uganda has a vision for a digitally empowered society, which is set out in a wide range of government documents. Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have their own digital strategies cascading ...
  • Finding the Missing Stone: Mobile Money and the Quality of Tax Policy and Administration 

    Apeti, Ablam Estel; Edoh, Eyah Denise (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-03)
    Digital financial services like mobile money are increasingly prevalent in developing countries as an alternative to traditional financial services. For many governments, they have become critical components of domestic ...
  • Are Trade Rules Undermining Taxation of the Digital Economy in Africa? 

    Banga, Karishma; Beyleveld, Alexander (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-02-29)
    In the face of emerging and new digital business models, countries are facing a political and technical choice of adapting the existing taxation instruments of corporate income tax (CIT) and value added tax (VAT) or creating ...
  • Using Digital Technologies to Improve Tax Collection – the Case of Togo 

    Kang’oro, Dorothy; Ngerero, Fidele; Odongo, Ignatius (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-03)
    The increasing digitalisation of African economies over the past decade, and the spread of mobile money and digital financial services (DFS), present opportunities and challenges to tax administrations in Africa. In ...
  • Getting Targets Right: How Much Revenue can Lower-Income Countries Raise? 

    Gallien, Max; Lees, Adrienne; Mascagni, Giulia (2024-03)
    Lower-income countries have huge financing needs. While tackling the climate challenge and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires substantial capital investments, the Covid-19 epidemic has highlighted an ...
  • Towards Gender Equality in Tax and Fiscal Systems: Moving Beyond the Implicit-Explicit Bias Framework 

    Grown, Caren; Mascagni, Giulia (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-03)
    The subject of gender and taxation has gained increasing traction in policy circles. Most existing evidence is based on the implicit and explicit bias framework developed in the mid-1990s. This framework has been useful ...
  • The E-Levy and Merchant Payment Exemption in Ghana 

    Scarpini, Celeste; Santoro, Fabrizio; Abounabhan, Mary; Diouf, Awa (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-02)
    In this paper we look into the increasing use of electronic payment technologies in low-income countries (LICs), with a particular focus on the use of mobile money in Ghana. Our study evaluates the effectiveness of tax ...
  • Mobile Money Taxes: Knowledge, Perceptions and Politics. The Case of Ghana 

    Abounabhan, Mary; Diouf, Awa; Santoro, Fabrizio; Sakyi-Nyarko, Carlos; Scarpini, Celeste (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-02)
    This study investigates the intricate dynamics surrounding the implementation and reception of mobile money taxes, focusing on Ghana as a case study. Consumer-level mobile money taxes, particularly controversial, have ...
  • Digital Tax Policy and Tax Revenue Collection in Cameroon 

    Derrick, Fossong; Mc Moi Ndi, Ashu; Santoro, Fabrizio (Institute of Development Studies, 2023-12)
    Many African countries have made significant progress in digitalising tax administration. Recent research has shown promising evidence around the impact of digital solutions, such as electronic filing, on tax compliance ...
  • Technology Evolution and Tax Compliance: Evidence from Rwanda 

    Rossel, Lucia; Santoro, Fabrizio; Hakizimana, Naphtal (Institute of Development Studies, 2023-09)
    Narrowing the ‘information problem’ through technology. Data on economic transactions is crucial for tax administrations to be able to enforce tax compliance. One way of obtaining more information is through technology. ...
  • Are Trade Rules Undermining Taxation of the Digital Economy in Africa? 

    Banga, Karishma; Beyleveld, Alexander (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-02)
    African countries are currently considering provisions in the AfCFTA and at the WTO to liberalise digital trade. As they face mounting fiscal pressures, it is imperative that they beware the implications of digital ...
  • E-tax System Adoption and Tax Compliance in Ethiopia: Large and Medium Taxpayers' Experience 

    Yimam, Seid; Lidetu, Kebede; Belete, Tihtina (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-01)
    In the last decade, tax administrations in developing countries have been introducing technological innovations such as e-filing and e-payment platforms. The main aim of introducing these technologies is to improve tax ...
  • Resolving Tax Disputes: Market Vendors and Councils in Malawi 

    Msiska, Tizgowere; Thawe, Masauko (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-01)
    In local markets in Malawi, there are frequent tensions between market traders and the local councils who are responsible for the markets. This sometimes results in the traders refusing to pay market taxes. That in turn ...
  • Finding the Missing Stone: Mobile Money and the Quality of Tax Policy and Administration 

    Apeti, Ablam Estel; Edoh, Eyah Denise (Institute of Development Studies, 2024-01)
    Making tax administration more efficient and maximising voluntary compliance is a very difficult task for developing countries. In this paper, we analyse the effect of mobile money payments on the quality of tax policy and ...
  • Digital Tax Policy and Tax Revenue Collection in Cameroon 

    Derrick, Fossong; Mc Moi Ndi, Ashu (Institute of Development Studies, 2023-12)
    Cameroon adopted a digital tax policy some eight years ago. Before full implementation of the digital tax policy in 2016, councils in Cameroon, especially local councils, reported many challenges due to delays and ...
  • Protest Matters: The Effects of Protests on Economic Redistribution 

    Archibong, Belinda; Moerenhout, Tom; Osabuohien, Evans (Institute of Development Studies, 2023-11)
    Can citizen-led protests lead to meaningful economic redistribution and nudge governments to increase their efforts to redistribute fiscal resources? We study the effects of protests on fiscal redistribution using ...
  • Implementation Obstacles and Political Appeal of Environmental Taxes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reflections from Selected Countries 

    Occhiali, Giovanni (Institute of Development Studies, 2023-11-29)
    Increasing the slow pace of adoption of environmental taxes across low-income countries has become a significant priority among international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, and international donors. ...
  • Presumptive Taxation and Equity: Evidence from the Ethiopian Informal Sector 

    Asmare, Fisha; Yimam, Seid; Semreab, Etsehiwot (Institute of Development Studies, 2023-11)
    Presumptive tax has become a popular way of taxing businesses operating in the informal sector across middle- and low-income countries. However, evidence on the unintended effects of presumptive tax systems is scant and ...
  • Using Machine Learning to Create a Property Tax Roll: Evidence from the City of Kananga, D.R. Congo 

    Bergeron, Augustin; Fournier, Arnaud; Kabeya, John Kabeya; Tourek, Gabriel; Weigel, Jonathan L. (Institute of Development Studies, 2023-11)
    Developing countries often lack the financial resources to provide public goods. Property taxation has been identified as a promising source of local revenue, because it is relatively efficient, captures growth in real ...

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