Research in Brief 141

Electronic tax services represent a promising opportunity to strengthen business tax compliance in developing countries, particularly in Africa, where the level of business informality remains high. These services offer more inclusive, secure, and rapid access to tax processes to enable businesses to meet their tax obligations more efficiently. The use of electronic platforms also helps businesses to maintain more accurate financial records, which improves the quality of tax returns and enhances the perception of the effectiveness of controls by tax authorities. In addition, these technologies increase the transparency and predictability of the tax system by providing reliable and easily accessible data for tax calculations. They also enable governments to encourage the formalisation of informal businesses by introducing tax incentives or reducing certain taxes on digital transactions. This approach, increasingly adopted by African governments, aims to modernise tax systems while addressing the challenges of mobilising domestic resources and integrating informal businesses into the formal economy.

In Burkina Faso, the government took a decisive step in April 2018 by launching eSINTAX, a digital platform dedicated to the declaration and payment of taxes. This initiative is part of a broader drive towards tax modernisation, aimed at improving compliance, reducing tax evasion, and bringing more businesses into the formal tax framework.

Summary of ICTD Working Paper 209.

Authors

Jule Kaini Tinta

Jule Kaïni Tinta is a lead researcher for the International Centre for Tax and Development’s (ICTD) DIGITAX programme and a PhD candidate at CERDI (Centre d’Etude et de Recherche en Développement International), University of Clermont Auvergne. He is also a Lecturer in finance and economics at the Business Administration Institute in Clermont. His research focuses on digital financial services, tax revenue mobilisation, digitalisation, governance, public finance and taxation

Mouhamed Zerbo

Mouhamed Zerbo holds a PhD in development economics from CERDI. He is currently a lead researcher at the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) as part of the DIGITAX programme and a Lecturer in economics. His research focuses on international trade, the environment, industrialisation, taxation, and public finances.

Fabrizio Santoro

Fabrizio is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, and the Research Lead for the second component of the ICTD's DIGITAX Research Programme. His main research interests relate to governance, public finance, and taxation, with a strong focus on impact evaluation methodologies and statistical analysis. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Sussex.

Awa Diouf

Awa is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the ICTD and an economist specialising in public finance in developing and transition countries. She holds a doctorate from the Université Clermont Auvergne in France, and the Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR), a think tank based in Senegal.

Kèrabouro Pale

Kèrabouro Pale is a Senior Researcher at the Burkina Faso Tax Authority. He holds a PhD in economics and management and is currently Managing Director of Burkina Suudu Bawdè (BSB).
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