Informality and Tax Community of Practice

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Informality and Tax Community of Practice

The Community of Practice on Informality and Tax is a global network of practitioners and scholars committed to improving both knowledge and policy on how tax authorities engage with informal economies. Building on ICTD’s growing body of research and its strong engagement with partners in the field, the Community of Practice will foster peer-to-peer learning, share cutting‑edge evidence, and co‑design practical tools for governments, development partners, and civil‑society groups.

By convening this diverse mix of actors, ICTD hopes to bridge the gaps between evidence, policy design, and implementation on the ground.

Key Areas of Focus include:
• How to better design simplified and presumptive tax schemes
• Revenue authorities’ experiences with digitisation
• Data assessing equity and compliance impacts in markets

For more information about ICTD work on informality and tax, check out our research and publications pages.

Informality and Tax Community of Practice

Key Resources

Informality and Tax Community of Practice Library

Working Paper

Unpacking Informality for Tax Purposes: Evidence from Urban Zimbabwe

August 2025
Abel Gwaindepi, Hellen Venganai

Research in Brief

Unpacking Informality for Tax Purposes: Evidence from Urban Zimbabwe

August 2025
Abel Gwaindepi, Hellen Venganai

Working Paper

Informality, Tax, and Markets in Kinshasa: Everyday Realities and Resistance

May 2025
Yannick Lokaya Bokasola, Eddy Junior Ngwakoyo, Gayatri Sahgal, Vanessa van den Boogaard

Policy Brief

Tax and Gender: Why Informality Matters

March 2025
Max Gallien, Eugénie Ribault, Michael Rogan, Vanessa van den Boogaard

Policy Brief

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

February 2025
Max Gallien, Christopher Hoy, Hitomi Komatsu, Ceren Ozer, Michael Rogan, Vanessa van den Boogaard

Webinar

2 December 2026 – 14:00

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Timezone: CET

The second webinar of the ATI-ICTD Tax and Informality series answers the questions: how can tax policies more effectively target higher-income earners within informal sectors? What role can targeting and risk-based registration play? How can the taxation of professionals be

Webinar

28 October 2026 – 14:00

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Timezone: UTC+2

As of 2024, 50% of the world’s extreme poor lived in fragility, conflict and violence affected countries, and this figure is only projected to increase in the coming years. Fragile and conflict-affected contexts present some of the most complex challenges

Virtual

23 September 2026 – 15:00

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Timezone: East Africa Time

ICTD Senior Research Fellow, Vanessa van den Boogaard, will be speaking at a webinar hosted by the Local Public Sector Alliance Gender Equity and Women’s Empowerment Working Group and Subnational Finance Working Group, in partnership with The Hague Academy for

Virtual

30 September 2026 – 15:00

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Timezone: Europe/Gibraltar

How effective are the most common approaches to taxing informal sectors? What does the available evidence tell us about their implications for revenue administration, efficiency, and equity? What are the key issues to consider for reform or for developing new

Virtual

30 June 2026 – 14:00

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Timezone: Europe/London

This webinar launches the Development and Change special issue, The Politics of Passage: Checkpoints and Authority amidst Conflict, drawing on the Roadblocks and Revenues research series.

Virtual

17 September 2025 – 16:00

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Timezone: Europe/London

Presumptive taxes are one of the most used tools through which tax authorities engage with informal economies. However, until recently, there has been very limited research on their actual performance and impact.

In person

18 February 2025 – 09:00

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Timezone: Europe/London

Akosombo, Ghana
ICTD is hosting a focused workshop in Akosombo, Ghana from 18th to 21st February 2024 that seeks to chart new ways forward in how revenue authorities engage with informal economies.
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Join our Community of Practice

The Community of Practice (CoP) on Informality & Tax will provide forums for engagement, learning, and peer-to-peer exchange and help foster new partnerships, collaborations, and research projects.