Tax Implications of Cashless Payments: Micro Evidence from African Countries

As states increasingly digitalise fiscal systems to strengthen revenue capacity, the spread of cashless payments offers new tools for enhancing tax compliance and administrative efficiency. This paper examines how the adoption of cashless payments interacts with tax perceptions among formal businesses in Africa. Drawing on firm-level survey data from approximately 6,000 enterprises across Burkina Faso, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, and Tanzania, we combine descriptive analysis with multivariate regression techniques to identify the determinants of cashless adoption and its association with tax-related attitudes. Results show that cash continues to dominate transactions, reflecting persistent infrastructural and behavioural barriers. Firm-level characteristics – such as financial literacy, access to financial networks, and integration into digital value chains – are positively associated with cashless usage. Yet the relationship between cashless adoption and tax perceptions varies widely across contexts, calling for further research. The findings contribute to emerging evidence on how cashless payments can, in some contexts, correlate with taxpayers’ attitudes, and stress the importance of policies aimed at fostering adoption.