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Showing 48-59 of 248 publications
May 2018

Regulatory Burdens in Tax Administration and Firms’ Compliance Costs in Africa

Merima Ali

This paper examines the effect of regulatory burdens related to tax administration on firms’ compliance costs in Africa. Using cross-country firm-level data, the results show that regulatory burdens related to tax administration significantly increase firms’ compliance costs compared to burdens related to other kinds of government regulations. The results further show that firms’ relationships with…

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May 2018

Building support for taxation in developing countries: Experimental evidence from Mexico

Drawing on insights from the literature on institutional design—how rules shape behavior to achieve desired outcomes—this article examines how certain design features of taxes—such as allowing for civil society oversight, earmark mechanisms that direct tax revenue for a specific purpose, and sunset provisions that make the duration of taxes finite—affect political support for tax reforms….

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April 2018

What is the Role of Taxpayer Education in Africa?

Giulia Mascagni & Fabrizio Santoro

The ICTD’s African Tax Administration Papers (ATAPs) are research papers that will be of specific interest to people working in tax administration in Africa. This paper, the first in the new ATAP series, reviews existing initiatives on taxpayer education in Africa, an area that has been largely under-researched in the literature. We start by providing…

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March 2018

Forest Taxation and REDD+: An Analysis of Potential Impacts in Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone

Stephen Spratt, Philip Kargbo, Emmanuel Marfo, Emmanuel Ngungoh & Sabaheta Ramcilovik-Suominen

This research explores the impacts that REDD+ could have on forest tax systems in three countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and considers how policy could be designed to increase the chances that these impacts are positive. To assess this, a methodological framework is identified and adapted. The framework has been used to explore how the implementation…

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March 2018

Subnational Value Added Tax in Ethiopia and Implications for States’ Fiscal Capacity

Wollela Abehodie Yesegat & Richard Krever

In most federal systems, state governments are funded through a combination of direct fiscal transfers from the central government, and the revenue they collect directly from locally adopted taxes. Ethiopia is a federal polity, but follows a slightly different path in the case of its most important tax source – value added tax (VAT). As…

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March 2018

Tax revenue mobilization in conflict-affected developing countries

Vanessa van den Boogaard, Wilson Prichard, Nikola Milicic & Matthew Benson

How does conflict affect tax revenue mobilization? This paper uses a newly updated dataset to explore longitudinal trends of tax revenue mobilization prior to, during, and after conflict periods in a selection of conflict-affected states since 1980. This medium-N trend analysis is complemented by prototypical case study analysis, which provides greater insight into the relationship…

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March 2018

Special Issue: Fiscal Policy, State Building and Economic Development

Edited by: Tony Addison, Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, Jukka Pirttilä

The latest issue of the Journal of International Development is a special issue on Fiscal Policy, State Building and Economic Development, which features work by ICTD researchers and partners. All the articles are open access. Introduction Fiscal Policy, State Building and Economic Development  Tony Addison, Miguel Niño-Zarazúa & Jukka Pirttilä This article presents a synopsis of…

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March 2018

Property Taxation in Kampala, Uganda: An Analytic Case Study on a Successful Reform

Mihaly Kopanyi & Riël Franzsen

Kampala’s revenue reforms offer lessons that large and powerful cities should not wait for national actions, rather, they can do a lot “in-house” to improve tax administration, coverage, and collection. Against the rather poor performance of the property tax in Uganda, Kampala’s reforms have resulted in unprecedented increase of own-source revenues generally and the property…

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March 2018

Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authorities in sub-Saharan Africa: Silver Bullet or White Elephant?

Roel Dom

A major component of tax administration reform in sub-Saharan Africa over the last thirty years has been the creation of semi-autonomous revenue authorities (SARAs). These operate at arm’s length from the ministry of finance, which is different to conventional tax administrations. They have an independent legal status, and usually integrate both customs and tax functions….

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March 2018

Subnational Value Added Tax in Ethiopia and Implications for States’ Fiscal Capacity

Wollela Abehodie Yesegat & Richard Krever

Fiscal federalism comprises the distribution of functions and tax revenue sources between central and regional governments. Fiscal federalism issues in respect of value added tax (VAT) do not arise in unitary states; in federal states questions arise as to which level of government should levy the tax, and how revenue should be divided between central…

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March 2018

Building tax systems in fragile states. Challenges, achievements and policy recommendations

Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Morten Bøås, Julie Brun Bjørkheim & Frida Margrethe Kvamme

The purpose of this study is to systematise and analyse existing knowledge on taxation in fragile states. Efforts to support domestic revenue mobilisation in conflict situations require a different approach and other means than in the more stable developing countries. On that basis, the study discusses possible entry points for Norwegian support to domestic revenue…

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February 2018

Norms, Networks, Power, and Control: Understanding Informal Payments and Brokerage in Cross-Border Trade in Sierra Leone

Vanessa van den Boogaard, Wilson Prichard & Samuel Jibao

Recent research has cast light on the variety of informal payments and practices that govern the day-to-day interactions between traders and customs agents at border posts in low-income countries. Building on this literature, this paper draws on survey and qualitative evidence in an effort to explore which groups are most advantaged and disadvantaged by the…

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