Policy Brief

Simplified Taxation in Africa: What We Know – and Need to Know

Policy Brief 15

Most economic operators in Africa are small and informal firms that fall under the purview of presumptive or simplified tax regimes (STRs). These taxes are expected to fulfil a range of functions, from raising revenue to facilitating formalisation and improving revenue authorities’ data, and yet their effectiveness and impact are surprisingly under-researched. Meanwhile, emerging evidence suggests that STRs often raise little revenue, disproportionately impact low-income earners, and are inconsistently applied. This policy brief summarises what we know about simplified taxes in Africa, who pays them, and why they matter, while highlighting gaps in existing knowledge. It makes the argument that there is a need for a new policy conversation on simplified taxation, and one that is data-driven and evidence-based.

Authors

Max Gallien

Max Gallien is a Research Fellow at the ICTD. His research specialises in the politics of informal and illegal economies, the political economy of the Middle East and North Africa and development politics. He completed his PhD at the London School of Economics. Max co-leads the informality and taxation programme with Vanessa, as well as the ICTD’s capacity building programme.

Christopher Hoy

Christopher Hoy is an Economist in the Poverty and Equity Global Practice at the World Bank.

Hitomi Komatsu

Hitomi Komatsu is a tax economist in the Fiscal Policy Unit of the World Bank. She has published journal articles and book chapters on tax policy and women’s time use and labor. Formerly, she was a Programme Manager at the United Nations Capital Development Fund, where she managed fiscal decentralization projects in Africa and Asia, a Programme Officer at the United Nations Development Programme in Malawi, and a consultant for the United Nations Statistical Office and the International Food Policy Research Institute. Hitomi holds a B.Sc. in Economics from University College London and a Ph.D. in Economics from American University.

Ceren Ozer

Ceren Ozer is Senior Economist in the Fiscal Policy Unit, Economic Policy, with the World Bank. She programme manages the Global Tax Program and the Platform for Collaboration on Tax.

Michael Rogan

Michael Rogan is a Research Associate in WIEGO’s Urban Policies Programme. His work centres on statistical analyses of earnings and status in employment in the informal economy, and he leads WIEGO’s research on taxation in the informal economy. Based at Rhodes University in South Africa, Michael works in the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics & Economic History. He holds a BA in international studies from the University of Washington in Seattle and an MA and PhD in development studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

Vanessa van den Boogaard

Vanessa van den Boogaard is a Research Fellow at the ICTD and a Senior Research Associate at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She completed her PhD thesis on informal revenue generation and statebuilding in Sierra Leone, and has ongoing research on the topic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia. Vanessa leads the ICTD’s new programme on civil society engagement in tax reform and co-leads the research programme on informal taxation.
Download

Publication Details

Publisher: Institute of Development Studies
Date: February 2025
Citation: Gallien, M. et al. (2025) Simplified Taxation in Africa: What We Know – and Need to Know, ICTD Policy Brief 15, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies DOI: 10.19088/ICTD.2025.012
Research theme:
Keywords: Africa, informal economy, informal sector, simplified tax regimes, small businesses