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Showing 1-12 of 46 Blogs
Cultural Parade in Zaria City, Nigeria where informal tax has become a lifeline for basic services
October 2025|
Blog

How faith and culture shape accountability in Nigeria’s informal tax system

by Jacob Aondohemba Iormbagah

In early October, I was in Cape Town for the 10th ATAF Annual Congress, where I…
Zimbabwe's informal sector: Saturday morning market outside Bulawayo City Hall
August 2025|
Blog

Zimbabwe’s informal sector – more carrots than sticks are needed

by Abel Gwaindepi & Hellen Venganai

Zimbabwe’s informal sector is massive. But despite its size, the sector remains poorly understood, especially when it comes to taxation. …
Man in the middle of the frame sitting on a table in a conference room with people around him either in the background or sitting near him on the same table. The man is not looking at the camera but is focused writing on a paper in front of him.
August 2025|
Blog

From agriculture to tax: How the ICTD course changed one man’s career

by Seid Yimam Mohamed & Stephanie Alkoussa

After completing the ICTD Research on Tax and Development course, Seid Yimam experienced a career switched, he shares more in this interview….
Wide shot of a small artisan store in Mexico, with a small crowd of people gathering to check the displayed items.
July 2025|
Blog

Toward formalisation: Can simplified tax and social security contributions help?

by Guillermo Montt

As interest in simplified tax grows, African countries can look at Latin America for lessons learned from the informal sector. …
General street scene in Hamar Weyne market in the Somali capital Mogadishu
April 2025|
Blog

Why tax matters in fragile states and how donors can support it

by Vanessa van den Boogaard

Fragile contexts are home to 24% of the world’s population (1.9 billion people), and three-quarters (73%)…
Wide shot of people in a street in Lahore, Pakistan.
March 2025|
Blog

Pakistanis are paying over 1.7 billion GBP in zakat every year—mostly to women

by Max Gallien, Umair Javed & Vanessa van den Boogaard

Every year, hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world pay a proportion – broadly 2,5%…
Close up shot of a person's hands holding loads of Nigerian cash
March 2025|
Blog

Wealthy Africans often don’t pay tax: the answer lies in smarter collection

by Giovanni Occhiali

Wealthy Africans face lower effective tax rates than average citizens, replicating a trend already demonstrated for the relative tax burden of small and large companies. This situation is disheartening. But there are immediate steps that African revenue authorities can take to address this unfairness….
Wide shot of a large group of people facing the camera.
March 2025|
Blog

Reasons to be Optimistic about Tax and the Informal Sector

by Max Gallien & Vanessa van den Boogaard

There are many reasons to be anxious about the taxation of informal sectors in lower income…
picture of Makola market in Ghana
January 2025|
Blog

Effective and Equitable Formalisation within the Financing for Development Agenda

by Max Gallien

Max Gallien argues for key changes to the draft text of the Financing for Development outcome document, given that dominant strategies for formalising and taxing the informal economy are often ineffective and highly regressive. …
December 2024|
Blog

Four priority areas for next year’s Financing for Development Conference

by Rhiannon McCluskey

At a recent UN side event, experts outlined how the new financing for development proposals on can be strengthened for better outcomes in four priority areas….
Close up shot on a pair of hands holding a stack of Malawian Kwacha
October 2024|
Blog

We interviewed 83 tax collectors in Malawi and here is what we learnt

by Nyanyiwe Sulu & Mick Moore

Tax specialists have a great deal to say about how African tax collectors could work better…
A woman stands in the middle of a small convenient stall, measuring grains.
October 2024|
Blog

Design features of simplified tax regimes for small businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa

by Christopher Hoy, Thiago Scot, Alex Oguso, Anna Custers, Daniel Zalo, Ruggero Doino, Jonathan Karver & Nicolas Orgeira Pillai

Our new working paper highlights to the challenges of designing appropriate tax regimes for small businesses as governments face stark trade-offs between raising revenue, maximizing simplicity, and maintaining equity. …
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