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Showing 1-12 of 197 Blogs
Pettah Sri Lanka
February 2023|
Blog

Making the IMF Work for Sri Lankans

The government of Sri Lanka is negotiating a large conditional loan from the IMF. A formal…

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…

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…

January 2023|
Blog

Calling all Latin American and Caribbean Ministers to rethink global taxation

by José Antonio Ocampo

As I participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, I feel a keen…

Photo of women of Takalafiya-Lapai village, Niger State, Nigeria
January 2023|
Blog

Mobile money tax: Is there a gender gap?

by Hannelore Niesten & Mary Abounabhan

Gender and tax: As Africa increasingly introduces specific taxes on digital financial services (DFS) such as mobile money, do DFS taxes exacerbate or reduce gender inequality?…

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……

November 2022|
Blog

COP27: To what degree can environmental taxes play a role in climate financing?

by Giovanni Occhiali

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the annual Conference of the Parties…

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….

woman at a mobile money street stall in Tanzania
October 2022|
Blog

Tanzania to waive electronic money transfer levy, except on mobile money?

by Hannelore Niesten

From 1st October 2022 Tanzania eliminated the levies on certain electronic money transfers, but not on mobile money….

Mobile money agent in Zanzibar, Tanzania
October 2022|
Blog

African governments hope digital taxes will fill a budget hole

Republished from The Economist with permission. The digital economy is bringing Africans together. The same cannot…

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….

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?…