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.
Key Resources
Tax Administration and Compliance Library
Uganda’s tax system is a drain on small businesses: how to set them free
Taxes, trust, and transparency: Lessons for Ghana’s fiscal future
Ghanaian President John Mahama’s government presented its much-awaited 2025 budget last month. In it, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson outlines…
From Identification to Stronger Tax Administration: Can Digital IDs Deliver?
In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), strengthening state capacity and expanding the tax base are fundamental to improving public…
Ghana’s e-levy: 3 lessons from the abolished mobile money tax
Four priority areas for next year’s Financing for Development Conference
The digital transformation of tax administrations: What’s in it for low-income countries?
As governments worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), push towards digital transformation, the platformisation of public services offers…
Take part in public consultation on minimum standards for tax expenditure reporting
ICTD launches report on 15 years of research and the future of development finance
The International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) has officially released its major report, Taxing Smarter: Advancing Reform Through Research…
ICTD and Zambia Revenue Authority host Future of Tax Reform forum in Lusaka
National tax compliance survey launched in Eswatini
ICTD early-career researchers submit PhDs, advancing tax research in low-income countries
The International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) is proud to announce that two of its early-career researchers, Adrienne Lees…
Championing evidence-based policymaking: URA hosts its first Research Day
Virtual
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Timezone: Europe/London
Revenue administrations have recently been investing significant efforts into registering a large number of new taxpayers, in the broader quest to formalise the informal sector. But have these efforts been effective in increasing revenue and improving administration? The ICTD hosted
In person
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Timezone: Africa/Nairobi
Virtual
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Timezone: Europe/London
Randomised controlled trials is a method that comes with strengths and weaknesses. Especially in theory-based evaluations of complex programmes, the method is often considered as inappropriate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDKcykdVs04&ab_channel=InstituteofDevelopmentStudies Giulia Mascagni will reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the method for
Virtual
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Timezone: Europe/London
Date: 30th May 2023, 13:30 – 14:30 London time Duration: 60 minutes Language: English only There are three puzzling features of Sub-Saharan African tax systems. First, tax administrations maintain records on vast numbers of small enterprises that actually provide no
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