Tax and Governance

In recent years, political scientists have suggested that increased taxation can spur more accountable governance. If citizens are made to pay taxes, they may feel more ownership over public resources, and demand things of their government in return. If taxpayers are unhappy with how their taxes are collected or spent, they may make demands for more accountability or even democracy. 

This argument has often been illustrated with the often-repeated phrase “no taxation without representation.” 

So, will raising taxes also lead to more accountable governance in developing countries today? 

What kinds of taxes mobilise people?  

How can they best engage to make their demands for reform heard?  

Under what conditions can state-taxpayer bargaining lead to more fair, transparent, and accountable governance? 

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Tax expenditures are controversial because: (check all that apply)
Tax expenditures are generally:
Governments sometimes grant tax expenditures: (check all that apply)
Do governments generally have detailed information on tax expenditures and their consequences?
Do governments generally make public the information they have on tax expenditures and their consequences?
CSO's should engage with tax expenditure issues because: (check all that apply)
Can CSO's appraise the effects of tax expenditures and devise better tax expenditure policy without help from the government?
Tax expenditure systems are unique to each country. Do CSO's in one country have little to learn from research done in other countries?

More on this topic

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Democratisation in Tanzania: No Elections Without Tax Exemptions

Date: December 2019
Ole Therkildsen & Ane Karoline Bak
Research in Brief

Strengthening Tax-Accountability Links: Fiscal Transparency and Taxpayer Engagement in Ghana and Sierra Leone

Date: November 2020
Vanessa van den Boogaard, Wilson Prichard, Rachel Beach & Fariya Mohiuddin
Research in Brief

Co-Financing Community-Driven Development Through Informal Taxation: Experimental Evidence from South-Central Somalia

Date: October 2021
Vanessa van den Boogaard & Fabrizio Santoro
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