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Showing 1-12 of 40 Blogs
Ghana: A woman carries fruit on her head as she passes a mobile money stand in the Tesano neighborhood.
February 2023|
Blog

The Ghana e-levy: Can the latest rate reduction win greater public acceptance and increase revenue?

by Awa Diouf, Alex Ampaabeng, Mary Abounabhan & Hannelore Niesten

The reduced tax rate on electronic transactions is unlikely to satisfy Ghanaians given the country’s rising inflation…
Ugandan landscape shot with a small hut in left foreground, lakes centre and right background and a yellow sign that read mobile money airtime selling in front of the hut
October 2022|
Blog

How should Africa’s digital payments be taxed?

by Philip Mader

Africa’s governments need tax revenue to fund everything from education and social welfare to paying international debts. No wonder governments are eyeing digital financial services (DFS) – a rapidly growing, highly profitable industry – for additional revenue….
Red vodafone mobile money kiosk in Ghana
October 2022|
Blog

New data on the e-levy in Ghana: unpopular tax on mobile money transfers is hitting the poor hardest

by Vanessa van den Boogaard, Max Gallien, Mike Rogan & Nana Akua Anyidoho

In Ghana, the “e-levy” has been linked to the current administration’s “Ghana Beyond Aid” strategy for reducing aid dependence….
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….
June 2022|
Blog

How will the E-levy impact the informal sector in Ghana?

by Rhiannon McCluskey & Philipa Birago Akuoko

The Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy), a 1.5% tax on all electronic transactions, went into effect on the 1st of May amongst considerable uncertainty and controversy….
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….
press conference with SEATINI and other civil society organisation representatives in Uganda
March 2022|
Blog

Tax justice from the ground up: An interview with SEATINI Uganda

by Jane Nalunga

In this blog, the ICTD speaks with Jane Nalunga, Executive Director of SEATINI Uganda to learn…
Hand reaching for a cigarettes pack
November 2021|
Blog

Tobacco taxation shows insufficient progress in African countries

by Jeffrey Drope & Erika Siu

The ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention…
People_informal_market_Nigeria
November 2021|
Blog

The World Bank and IMF are using flawed logic in their quest to do away with the informal sector

by Vanessa van den Boogaard, Max Gallien & Mike Rogan

Many low and middle-income countries face a myriad of challenges. But policies that can address them…
hands breaking a cigarette over blocks spelling the word stop
October 2021|
Blog

Progress and setbacks on tobacco control in Africa

by Corné van Walbeek & Zunda Chisha

Rapid population growth, increased advertising by the tobacco industry, and growing tobacco consumption among young people in Africa all contribute to…
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…
Cigarette butts
May 2021|
Blog

West African governments must increase taxes on tobacco for better health and public finances

by Jean Tesche

For more than 30 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated May 31 as World…