Adrienne Lees

Doctoral Fellow

Tax Administration and compliance;

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

Adrienne Lees is a Doctoral Fellow at the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD), working primarily on projects relating to tax administration and compliance. She was previously an ODI Fellow in the Tax Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Uganda. Adrienne holds an MSc in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford and is completing her PhD in Economics at the University of Sussex.

Publications

Partner Publication

The Panopticon Taxman: the Impact of E-invoicing on VAT Compliance in Uganda

January 2026
Adrienne Lees, Maria Jouste, Nicholas Musoke & Joseph Okello Ayo
Working Paper

Beyond the Tax Bill: Measuring Tax Compliance Costs for Ugandan Firms

May 2025
Adrienne Lees
Research in Brief

Beyond the Tax Bill: Measuring Tax Compliance Costs for Ugandan Firms

May 2025
Adrienne Lees
Policy Brief

Taxing Mobile Money in Africa: Risk and Reward

July 2024
Martin Hearson, Philip Mader, Mary Abounabhan, Marco Carreras, Awa Diouf, Adrienne Lees, Hannelore Niesten, Fabrizio Santoro & Christopher Wales
Working Paper

Research within Tax Administration: from Monitoring Revenue to Influencing Policy

July 2024
Adrienne Lees, Giulia Mascagni, Seid Yimam Mohamed, Girma Gebretsadik & Mustapha Ndajiwo
Policy Brief

Getting Targets Right: How Much Revenue can Lower-Income Countries Raise?

March 2024
Max Gallien, Adrienne Lees & Giulia Mascagni
See all Related Publications

Blogs

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Empty prison building in a circular architecture
February 2026|
Blog

The Panopticon taxman: How digital surveillance is impacting tax compliance in Uganda

by Adrienne Lees, Maria Jouste, Joseph Okello Ayo, Nicholas Musoke & Marie-France Boucher

In the 18th century, philosopher Jeremy Bentham envisioned the panopticon: a circular prison where guards could…
A three-floor building of clothing shops in a market
June 2025|
Blog

Uganda’s tax system is a drain on small businesses: how to set them free

by Adrienne Lees

The complexity of Uganda’s tax system makes for a time-consuming tax filing process, compounded by low taxpayer knowledge and high levels of distrust in the Uganda Revenue Authority. The time, money, and effort incurred by taxpayers to meet their tax obligations adds to their total tax burden….
Adrienne Lees and Sripriya Srivatsa standing in front of the library
April 2024|
Blog

Five reflections from a writing retreat

by Adrienne Lees & Sripriya Iyengar Srivatsa

Two of ICTD’s PhD students, Adrienne Lees and Sripriya Srivatsa, recently spent three days at Gladstone’s…
A nigerian man counting money
April 2023|
Blog

Tackling the hidden costs of taxation: Can digitalisation help?

by Adrienne Lees

Non-compliance can be down to more than just intentional evasion – taxpaying can be time-consuming, complicated and costly. Tackling compliance costs can help. For many countries, digitalisation is top of the list….
Hands of two african individuals doing financial transaction with a point of sales POS terminal as Cash, Naira, Money or currency is changing hands
April 2023|
Blog

Can real-time electronic invoicing fix VAT’s problem?

by Adrienne Lees

VAT’s self-enforcement mechanism is powerful and also its greatest weakness. In Rwanda, China and Ethiopia, e-invoicing systems show promising early results in improving enforcement and compliance….
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….

News and events

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News
Collage of the covers of 8 books mentioned in the reading list
March 2026
ICTD reading list recommendations for International’s Women Day 2026

For International Women’s Day 2026, women across the ICTD team have shared a selection of books that have stayed with them. …
News
Adrienne Lees ans Sripriya Srivatsa, the two early-career researchers who submitted their PhD theses
March 2026
ICTD early-career researchers submit PhDs, advancing tax research in low-income countries

The International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) is proud to announce that two of its…
News
Digital banner displaying the words URA Research Day behind five speakers sitting on a stage facing a crowd of people who are taking notes.
November 2025
Championing evidence-based policymaking: URA hosts its first Research Day

Recognising the risk inherent in the pressure to raise more revenue quickly, and the need for research-informed approaches, the URA recently hosted its first-ever Research Day, with the support of ICTD and UNU-WIDER….

Research Projects

Current Project

Survey of Taxpayers in Eswatini: Compliance Costs, Digital Services, and Attitudes towards Compliance
Completed Project

Tax Compliance Costs: Uganda

Adrienne Lees
Completed Project

Evidence Gap Map on Digital Financial Services: Enablers, Barriers, and Impacts

Philip Mader, ICTD, Maren Duvendack, Adrienne Lees, ICTD, Aurelie Larquemin & Keir Macdonald, IDS
Completed Project

Tax e-Services in Rwanda: Uptake, Impacts and Shifts after COVID-19

Fabrizio Santoro, ICTD, Marco Carreras, Adrienne Lees, ICTD, Theonille Mukamana, Naphtal Hakizimana & Yves Nsegyiumva
Completed Project

Taxing the Financial Sector in Uganda

Adrienne Lees, ICTD & Chris Wales, ICTD
Completed Project

The Mobile Money Tax in Uganda: Study of the Policymaking Process

Adrienne Lees, ICTD & Doris Akol, ICTD
See all Related Projects