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Tax, Welfare and Inequality

Tax policy and tax administration can have a big impact on who does or does not pay their fair share, on economic incentives, and thus on levels of poverty and the distribution of income and welfare. Research under this theme focuses on developing a better understanding, in specific contexts, of the complex economic and political linkages between how governments tax, how their national economies perform, and how well their citizens live. Some of our specific concerns are: the taxation of high net worth individuals; efficient business taxation; and the taxation of socially-harmful activities like smoking tobacco.

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Home Research theme Tax, Welfare and Inequality

Publications

Research in Brief

Mobile Money Taxation and Informal Workers: Evidence from Ghana’s E-Levy

September 2023
Nana Akua Anyidoho, Max Gallien, Mike Rogan & Vanessa van den Boogaard
Research in Brief

Explaining Informal Taxation and Revenue Generation: Evidence from south-central Somalia

August 2023
Vanessa van den Boogaard & Fabrizio Santoro
Research in Brief

Between God, the People, and the State: Citizen Conceptions of Zakat

August 2023
Max Gallien, Umair Javed & Vanessa van den Boogaard
Research in Brief

Zakat, Non-State Welfare Provision and Redistribution in Times of Crisis: Evidence from the Covid-19 Pandemic

August 2023
Max Gallien, Umair Javed & Vanessa van den Boogaard
Working Paper

Between God, the People, and the State: Citizen Conceptions of Zakat

June 2023
Max Gallien, Umair Javed & Vanessa van den Boogaard
Journal Article

Formalization and its Discontents: Conceptual Fallacies and Ways Forward

April 2023
Max Gallien & Vanessa van den Boogaard
See all Related Publications

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Related blogs

See all Related Blogs
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…

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….

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….

elderly african woman and young black man using phone and credit card
August 2022|
Blog

Ghana’s new e-levy: the sour, sweet and switches so far

by Fabrizio Santoro, Mary Abounabhan & Awa Diouf

Introduced in May 2022, Ghana’s e-levy is a 1.5 per cent tax on the transfer amount of electronic transactions. The objective is to improve tax revenues by tapping into fast-growing digital financial services (DFS). However, many exemptions are applied to the tax design….

June 2022|
Blog

How will the E-levy impact the informal sector in Ghana?

by Rhiannon McCluskey & Philipa Birago Akuoko

The Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy), a 1.5% tax on all electronic transactions, went into effect on the 1st of May amongst considerable uncertainty and controversy….

CHOGM2022_image_twitter
June 2022|
Blog

Why taxation should be high on the agenda for Commonwealth leaders

by Giulia Mascagni

Tax might not be the first thing that comes to mind but it is central to delivering much of the transformative change on the agenda in Kigali, from increasing women’s economic participation to youth entrepreneurship….

Research Projects

Completed Project

The impact of mobile money taxation on financial inclusion: The case of the Kenyan excise duty

Marco Carrerras, Awa Diouf & Fabrizio Santoro
Completed Project

Tobacco tax reform in West Africa

Prof Corné van Walbeek, REEP, Dr Hana Ross, REEP, Prof Abdoulaye Diagne, CRES, Dr Pape Yona Mané, CRES & Kisten van der Zee, REEP
Completed Project

The fiscal and public health impact of a change in tobacco excise taxes in Ghana

Ama Fenny, University of Ghana, Felix Asante, Aba Crentsil & Christian Osei
Completed Project

Estimating the Impact of Tax or Price Measures on Tobacco Smoking Onset and Cessation

Precious Akanonu
See all Related Projects
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International Centre for Tax and Development, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Brighton, BN1 9RE, United Kingdom
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