Tax Administration and Compliance

Research Theme

Tax Administration and Compliance

Many of the challenges low-income countries face in mobilising domestic resources are related to tax administration as much as tax policy. Our research on this theme encompasses all aspects of tax administration, from technology adoption, to data management and strategies for collecting revenue from different types of taxpayers. Tax compliance is a key focus, as low-income countries struggle with widespread evasion, corruption, and limited administrative capacity. Our research on compliance includes survey-based studies of taxpayers’ perceptions and attitudes, case studies, and large-scale field experiments.

Tax Administration and Compliance

Led By

Tax Administration and Compliance Library

Working Paper

Participation, Legitimacy and Fiscal Capacity in Weak States: Evidence from Participatory Budgeting

June 2025
Kevin Grieco, Abou Bakarr Kamara, Niccoló Meriggi, Julian Michel, Wilson Prichard

Working Paper

Beyond the Tax Bill: Measuring Tax Compliance Costs for Ugandan Firms

May 2025
Adrienne Lees

Research in Brief

Beyond the Tax Bill: Measuring Tax Compliance Costs for Ugandan Firms

May 2025
Adrienne Lees

Working Paper

What Impact Do Tax Agents Have on Taxpayers’ Compliance in Uganda? Evidence from Tax Administrative Data

May 2025
Fredrick Kalyango, Giovanni Occhiali

Research in Brief

The Potential of Digital ID Systems for Tax Administration: the Case of Ghana

February 2025
Fabrizio Santoro, Celeste Scarpini, Stephen Okiya

Working Paper

Unpacking Tax Relations in Contexts of Fragility: A Case Study of Somalia

January 2025
Gayatri Sahgal

Research in Brief

Unpacking Tax Relations in Contexts of Fragility: A Case Study of Somalia

January 2025
Gayatri Sahgal

Working Paper

The Interpersonal Side of Tax Compliance: Interactions Between Taxpayers and Tax Officials in Rwanda

January 2025
Giulia Mascagni, Celeste Scarpini, Denis Mukama, Fabrizio Santoro, Naphtal Hakizimana

African Tax Administration Paper

The Potential of Digital ID Systems for Tax Administration: The Case of Ghana

December 2024
Fabrizio Santoro, Celeste Scarpini, Stephen Okiya

Working Paper

How Tanzania’s Levy on Mobile Money Affects Small Businesses

November 2024
Stefanie Pfeil, Luciana Nyaoke Murimi, Marius Siebert, Fabrizio Santoro

Research in Brief

How Tanzanian’s Levy on Mobile Money Affects Small Businesses

November 2024
Stefanie Pfeil, Luciana Nyaoke Murimi, Marius Siebert, Fabrizio Santoro

African Tax Administration Paper

Improving Revenue Collection in Malawi. Tax Collectors’ Perspectives

October 2024
Nyanyiwe Sulu, Mick Moore

Virtual

8 February 2022 – 14:00

•

Timezone: Europe/London

Watch the event recording here. On February 8th, the ICTD’s Research Director Dr Giulia Mascagni will be speaking as a panellist at an event focusing on taxpayer education. Read her paper on the role of taxpayer education in Africa, on

Virtual

1 February 2022 – 14:00

•

Timezone: Europe/London

The ICTD’s Research Director Giulia Mascagni will be beginning this spring’s Tax for Development webinar series. This upcoming webinar, The Tax Side of the Pandemic: Compliance Shifts and Funding for Recovery in Rwanda, is the first of a series of

Virtual

13 December 2021 – 10:30

•

Timezone: America/New_York

What impact has the Covid-19 pandemic had on taxpayer perceptions and tax compliance in low-income countries? In this seminar hosted by the World Bank, the ICTD’s Research Director Dr. Giulia Mascagni will present results from new research in Rwanda. Recently

Virtual

2 December 2021 – 14:00

•

Timezone: Europe/London

A central aspect of institutional development in developing economies is building tax systems capable of raising revenues from broad tax bases; i.e., acquiring fiscal capacity. Improved fiscal capacity allows countries to generate much-needed resources for the provision of public goods

Completed

Survey of Taxpayers in Eswatini: Compliance Costs, Digital Services, and Attitudes towards Compliance

Start date: 01/01/2026

Completed

The interpersonal side of tax compliance: interactions between taxpayers and tax officials in Rwanda

Current

Gender and Tax Compliance

Start date: 10/05/2023

Completed

Tax Compliance Costs: Uganda

Start date: 23/02/2023

Current

Women in Ethiopian Tax Administrations: Evidence on representation and performance

Start date: 10/02/2022

Completed

What is the distributional impact of the income and consumption tax reforms in Liberia?

Start date: 19/09/2023

Completed

An Introduction to Digital Tax Payment Systems in Low-and Middle-Income Countries

Start date: 08/08/2023

Completed

Digital financial services and digital IDs: What potential do they have for better taxation in Africa?

Start date: 08/12/2021

Completed

Mobile money and quality of tax administration and tax policy in developing countries

Start date: 16/08/2023

Completed

Assessing the impact of e-filing and e-payment in Senegal

Start date: 15/08/2023

Current

Taxation of High Net Worth Individuals in Sierra Leone

Start date: 14/06/2021

Completed

Block management system and formalisation: An ethnography and evaluation of the registration process in Freetown

Start date: 29/11/2021
Alex Kombat
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Research Affiliate
Hannelore Niesten
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Associate Postdoctoral Fellow
Jalia Kangave
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Associate Research Fellow
Lucia Rossel
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Research Affiliate
Mick Moore
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Research Fellow & Publications Editor
Moyo Arewa
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Programme Director, LoGRI
Ronald Waiswa
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Research Affiliate
Samuel Jibao
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Research Affiliate
Wilson Prichard
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Associate Research Fellow, ICTD and Chair, LoGRI

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