DIGITAX Research Programme

Programme

DIGITAX Research Programme

The DIGITAX programme generated knowledge and evidence as well as delivered advice and support to governments and other stakeholders on overcoming challenges and leveraging opportunities at the interface of digital financial services (DFS), digital IDs, and tax.

Our robust, relevant, and cutting-edge research looked at:
• the taxation of mobile money and other DFS, and;
• the digitalisation of tax systems across lower-income countries, with a particular focus on Africa.

DIGITAX, which ran from 2020 to 2024, was funded by the Gates Foundation.

DIGITAX Research Programme

Key Resources

How digital public infrastructure could transform tax administration in Africa

Opinion and Analysis

How digital public infrastructure could transform tax administration in Africa

Fabrizio Santoro, Lucia Rossel
Read more : How digital public infrastructure could transform tax administration in Africa
Read more : How digital public infrastructure could transform tax administration in Africa
ICTD launches DFS TaxMap: A comprehensive visualisation tool on taxation of digital financial services in Africa

News

ICTD launches DFS TaxMap: A comprehensive visualisation tool on taxation of digital financial services in Africa

Read more : ICTD launches DFS TaxMap: A comprehensive visualisation tool on taxation of digital financial services in Africa
Read more : ICTD launches DFS TaxMap: A comprehensive visualisation tool on taxation of digital financial services in Africa
Taxing Mobile Money in Africa: Risk and Reward

Publication

Taxing Mobile Money in Africa: Risk and Reward

Martin Hearson, Philip Mader, Mary Abounabhan, Marco Carreras, Awa Diouf, Adrienne Lees, Hannelore Niesten, Fabrizio Santoro, Christopher Wales
Read more : Taxing Mobile Money in Africa: Risk and Reward
Read more : Taxing Mobile Money in Africa: Risk and Reward

DIGITAX Research Programme Library

Research in Brief

How Will Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) Influence Tax Administration in Developing Countries?

June 2024
Moyo Arewa, Celeste Scarpini, Kelbesa Megersa, Barry Cooper, Antonia Esser, Megan Campbell

Research in Brief

Mobile Money Taxes: Knowledge, Perceptions and Politics. The Case of Ghana

June 2024
Mary Abounabhan, Awa Diouf, Fabrizio Santoro, Carlos Sakyi-Nyarko, Celeste Scarpini

Research in Brief

Enhancing Taxpayer Registration with Inter-Institutional Data Sharing – Evidence from Uganda

June 2024
Celeste Scarpini, Fabrizio Santoro, Ronald Waiswa, Moyo Arewa, Jane Nabuyondo

African Tax Administration Paper

Enhancing Taxpayer Registration with Inter-Institutional Data Sharing – Evidence from Uganda

June 2024
Celeste Scarpini, Fabrizio Santoro, Ronald Waiswa, Moyo Arewa, Jane Nabuyondo

Research in Brief

Tax Revenue in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries: Does Digital Finance Matter?

June 2024
Tania M. Azoa Balengla, Joseph Keneck Massil, Alphonse Noah, Bernard Clery Nomo Beyala

Working Paper

Tax Revenue in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries: Does Digital Finance Matter?

June 2024
Tania M. Azoa Balengla, Joseph Keneck Massil, Alphonse Noah, Bernard Clery Nomo Beyala

Research in Brief

Taxing Mobile Money in Kenya: Impact on Financial Inclusion

May 2024
Awa Diouf, Marco Carreras, Fabrizio Santoro

Research in Brief

Technology Evolution and Tax Compliance: Evidence from Rwanda

May 2024
Naphtal Hakizimana, Fabrizio Santoro

Research in Brief

The E-levy and Merchant Payment Exemption in Ghana

May 2024
Celeste Scarpini, Fabrizio Santoro, Mary Abounabhan, Awa Diouf

Policy Brief

Taxation Policies, Processes, and Performances of Mobile Money Providers in Côte d’Ivoire

May 2024
Hannelore Niesten

Research in Brief

Cameroon’s Tax on Mobile Money: Implications for Agents’ Performance and Revenue Sustainability

May 2024
Alphonse Noah, Ruth Tacneng

Working Paper

Cameroon’s Tax on Mobile Money: Implications for Agents’ Performance and Revenue Sustainability

May 2024
Alphonse Noah, Ruth Tacneng
ICTD blog on digital IDs and tax administration in Ethiopia cited in media reports

Media coverage

20 May 2024

ICTD blog on digital IDs and tax administration in Ethiopia cited in media reports

Seid Yimam Mohamed, Fabrizio Santoro
Research produced under ICTD’s DIGITAX programme on the integration of digital ID systems with tax administration systems was cited by…
Read more : ICTD blog on digital IDs and tax administration in Ethiopia cited in media reports
Read more : ICTD blog on digital IDs and tax administration in Ethiopia cited in media reports
Tax incentives for digital payments – Lessons for African tax administration organisations

Opinion and Analysis

16 May 2024

Tax incentives for digital payments – Lessons for African tax administration organisations

Lucia Rossel, Fabrizio Santoro
Are digital payment tax incentives delivering on the promise of increased tax revenuue? A comprehensive comparative compilation of experience in…
Read more : Tax incentives for digital payments – Lessons for African tax administration organisations
Read more : Tax incentives for digital payments – Lessons for African tax administration organisations
Ethiopia’s national digital ID: A breakthrough for tax system transformation?

Opinion and Analysis

9 May 2024

Ethiopia’s national digital ID: A breakthrough for tax system transformation?

Seid Yimam Mohamed, Fabrizio Santoro

Fayda, Ethiopia’s new digital identification (ID) system, comes with big potential for the country’s tax administrations, which lose significant amounts…

Read more : Ethiopia’s national digital ID: A breakthrough for tax system transformation?
Read more : Ethiopia’s national digital ID: A breakthrough for tax system transformation?
Broadening the tax horizon through information: the power of third-party data for African tax administrations

Opinion and Analysis

25 March 2024

Broadening the tax horizon through information: the power of third-party data for African tax administrations

Lucia Rossel, Fabrizio Santoro

It is fair to say that taxation cannot exist without information. To calculate taxes and enforce compliance, tax administrations need…

Read more : Broadening the tax horizon through information: the power of third-party data for African tax administrations
Read more : Broadening the tax horizon through information: the power of third-party data for African tax administrations
DIGITAX workshop on taxing mobile money garners media attention in Ghana

Media coverage

12 March 2024

DIGITAX workshop on taxing mobile money garners media attention in Ghana

Martin Hearson
The two-day DIGITAX Research Programme workshop in Accra on ‘Taxing mobile money: Lessons and ways forward’, hosted by the Ghana…
Read more : DIGITAX workshop on taxing mobile money garners media attention in Ghana
Read more : DIGITAX workshop on taxing mobile money garners media attention in Ghana
Insights on Ghana’s e-levy: What do we know nearly two years on?

News

1 March 2024

Insights on Ghana’s e-levy: What do we know nearly two years on?

A two-day workshop opened in Accra, Ghana, on the topic ‘Taxing mobile money: Lessons and ways forward’. Research findings and…
Read more : Insights on Ghana’s e-levy: What do we know nearly two years on?
Read more : Insights on Ghana’s e-levy: What do we know nearly two years on?
Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Tax Administration: Insights from the 2nd RRA Research Conference

News

10 February 2024

Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Tax Administration: Insights from the 2nd RRA Research Conference

Fabrizio Santoro, Denis Mukama

On February 9, 2024, the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) and the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) co-hosted the…

Read more : Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Tax Administration: Insights from the 2nd RRA Research Conference
Read more : Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Tax Administration: Insights from the 2nd RRA Research Conference
What have we learnt about taxing mobile money in Africa? Martin Hearson and Awa Diouf share lessons from DIGITAX research

News

7 February 2024

What have we learnt about taxing mobile money in Africa? Martin Hearson and Awa Diouf share lessons from DIGITAX research programme

As more African governments turn to the growing digital financial services (DFS) sector – specifically mobile money – to help…

Read more : What have we learnt about taxing mobile money in Africa? Martin Hearson and Awa Diouf share lessons from DIGITAX research programme
Read more : What have we learnt about taxing mobile money in Africa? Martin Hearson and Awa Diouf share lessons from DIGITAX research programme
The digitalisation journey of tax administrations – Insights from the Network of Tax Organisations (NTO) Conference

Opinion and Analysis

13 December 2023

The digitalisation journey of tax administrations – Insights from the Network of Tax Organisations (NTO) Conference

Fabrizio Santoro
The fundamental challenge in tax digitalisation lies in shifting focus away from the mere implementation of technology. Instead, a clear…
Read more : The digitalisation journey of tax administrations – Insights from the Network of Tax Organisations (NTO) Conference
Read more : The digitalisation journey of tax administrations – Insights from the Network of Tax Organisations (NTO) Conference
Nothing to see.

Completed

Impact of Compulsory e-Payments on Compliance in Eswatini

Start date: 01/01/2022

Completed

Review of Tax Payment Technologies: Uses, Benefits, Drawbacks, and Future Options

Start date: 01/01/2022

Completed

Tax e-Services in Rwanda: Uptake, Impacts and Shifts after COVID-19

Start date: 01/01/2022

Completed

From Hand to Mouse Redux: Data, Technology and Tax Administration in Africa: A Review of Existing Evidence

Start date: 01/01/2022

Current

Comparison of Taxation of DFS Versus Traditional Financial Services in Nine African Countries

Start date: 01/01/2022

Completed

Digital Payment Tax Factsheets

Start date: 01/01/2022

Current

Evidence Review: digital financial services, digital ID systems and tax administration

Start date: 28/04/2021

Current

How do African tax administrations adopt new technology?

Start date: 28/04/2021

Current

Data, Technology and Tax Administration in Developing Countries: Review of Existing Evidence

Start date: 28/04/2021

Current

Taxing the Financial Sector in Uganda

Start date: 28/04/2021

Current

The Mobile Money Tax in Uganda: Study of the Policymaking Process

Start date: 28/04/2021

Current

The taxation of DFS in the broader context of taxing the financial and mobile payments sector: A Cross-country study

Start date: 28/04/2021
Nothing to see.