Weaknesses in the tax policymaking process can undermine the quality of tax policy design and related revenue outcomes. Moreover, this can lead to measures that have unintended social and economic consequences. Considering these challenges, our researchers Adrienne Lees and Doris Akol aim to provide important insights for governments regarding how to best approach tax reform by providing an evaluation of the tax policymaking process behind an interesting case study from Uganda: the introduction of a tax on mobile money transactions in 2018.
In their paper, our researchers evaluate the appropriateness of the tax policymaking process which led to the introduction of the mobile money tax in Uganda. They also examine how the process behind this tax diverged from the usual tax policymaking process and identify its possible weaknesses. This case study is relevant for Uganda as well as for other low-income economies which could be exposed to similar challenges in the introduction of taxes on mobile money.