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Showing 1-12 of 46 Blogs
Photo of man texting on mobile phone
February 2023|
Blog

Taxes on digital financial services in Africa – An unlevel playing field

by Hannelore Niesten

Taxing transactions made via digital financial services differently from those made via traditional banking services can…

blurred man holding his ID in focus to the camera.
November 2022|
Blog

Identity issues: four challenges for digital IDs in Africa’s tax systems

by Fabrizio Santoro, Moyo Arewa & Celeste Scarpini

From streamlining primary healthcare to amplifying agricultural outcomes, digital IDs matter. Here are some of the reasons why……

flags of East African Community countries
September 2022|
Blog

Mobile-money taxation in East Africa: Harmonisation or laissez-faire?

by Hannelore Niesten

Regional tax harmonisation is controversial, with compelling arguments for and against. Is it desirable? Or beneficial? And if so, to whom?…

elderly african woman and young black man using phone and credit card
August 2022|
Blog

Ghana’s new e-levy: the sour, sweet and switches so far

by Fabrizio Santoro, Mary Abounabhan & Awa Diouf

Introduced in May 2022, Ghana’s e-levy is a 1.5 per cent tax on the transfer amount of electronic transactions. The objective is to improve tax revenues by tapping into fast-growing digital financial services (DFS). However, many exemptions are applied to the tax design….

NextBillion EGM
August 2022|
Blog

To tax or not to tax mobile money? The impact on digital financial services in Africa and beyond

by Adrienne Lees & Philip Mader

“Designing better tax policies for DFS requires understanding the factors that enable using DFS, and its potential impacts” writes Adrienne Lees & Philip Mader in their first blog for the ICTD….

CHOGM2022_image_twitter
June 2022|
Blog

Why taxation should be high on the agenda for Commonwealth leaders

by Giulia Mascagni

Tax might not be the first thing that comes to mind but it is central to delivering much of the transformative change on the agenda in Kigali, from increasing women’s economic participation to youth entrepreneurship….

June 2022|
Blog

Taxes as collateral: to risk or de-risk?

by Martin Hearson & Mary Abounabhan

Ghana’s Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), set into implementation on the 1st of May, has been met with heated public criticism….

mobile money kiosk in rural ghana
April 2022|
Blog

Uncertainty still dogs Ghana’s Electronic Transfer Levy

by Christopher Wales & Hannelore Niesten

Can Ghana’s Electronic Transfer Levy be implemented legally on the 1st of May? And beyond that, how will it work?…

Picture of Accra Ghana
December 2021|
Blog

Implementing a systems approach for effective property taxation in Ghana

by Peter Jongkind

Ghanaian local governments – metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) – face several challenges preventing them…

November 2021|
Blog

Increasing collection of income taxes via property ownership: The Borno State experience

by Mohammed Alkali, Mohammed Bashir Ali, John Audu Aziganu & Grema Bukar

Borno State, in north-eastern Nigeria, has faced intractable security challenges in the last decade that has led…

One hundred dollar banknotes flying and streaming from white box, isolated on white background.
October 2021|
Blog

Pandora’s box is open: What should lower-income countries do to tax the wealthy now?

by Rhiannon McCluskey & Giulia Mascagni

The recent Pandora Papers leak has exposed yet again the scandal of how the world’s rich…

Picture of Dakar, Senegal
August 2021|
Blog

Developing and adopting new digital tools for property tax reform in Dakar, Senegal 

by Justine Knebelmann, Victor Pouliquen & Bassirou Sarr

In June 2021, eight Senegalese tax agents based in the fiscal centre of Pikine, the country’s…