Research Theme

Tax and Governance

Discovering how and why increased taxation can spur statebuilding and government accountability is crucial across all countries. Combining tax and governance gives us a richer picture of how the right kinds of taxation can deliver more and better for taxpayers, and what success is contingent on. When tax and governance operate well, both local and national governments benefit.

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Key Resources

Report

Taxing Smarter: Advancing Reform Through Research and Partnership

July 2026

Policy Brief

Governing the Exchange of Tax Data in Digital Public Infrastructure: Law, Rights, and the Protection of Citizens in Data-Driven Systems

July 2026

Daisy Ogembo, Hannelore Niesten

Journal Article

Citizens’ aid preferences amid state collapse: Experimental evidence from Haiti

April 2026

Ana Isabel López García, Sarah Berens

Partner Publication

Digital Payments: Opportunities and Challenges for African Tax Administrations

October 2025

Fabrizio Santoro, Lucia Rossel

Tax and Governance Library

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

Research in Brief

Does Collecting Taxes Erode the Accountability of Informal Leaders? Evidence from the DRC

September 2024

Augustin Bergeron, Elie Kabue Ngindu, Gabriel Tourek, Jonathan L Weigel

Partner Publication

Leveraging Digital Innovations for Sustainable Development: Evidence from Tax Systems in Africa

September 2024

Fabrizio Santoro, Tanele Magongo, Razan Amine

Policy Brief

Exploring the Development of Mobile Money Markets and Revenue Collection from Digital Financial Services Taxes in Africa

August 2024

Hannelore Niesten, Christopher Wales

Policy Brief

Crafting a Model for Taxing Digital Financial Services

August 2024

Christopher Wales, Hannelore Niesten

Working Paper

Does Collecting Taxes Erode the Accountability of Informal Leaders? Evidence from the DRC

June 2024

Augustin Bergeron, Elie Kabue Ngindu, Gabriel Tourek, Jonathan Weigel

Research in Brief

Taxing Mobile Money in Kenya: Impact on Financial Inclusion

May 2024

Awa Diouf, Marco Carreras, Fabrizio Santoro

Research in Brief

Protests, Fiscal Redistribution, and Government Responses: Evidence from Nigeria

April 2024

Belinda Archibong, Tom Moerenhout, Evans Osabuohien

Research in Brief

Is Transparency Enough? An Examination of the Effect of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) on Accountability, Corruption and Trust in Zambia

April 2024

Sidonie East

Policy Brief

Getting Targets Right: How Much Revenue can Lower-Income Countries Raise?

March 2024

Max Gallien, Adrienne Lees, Giulia Mascagni

Journal Article

Encouraging digital tax tools as a response to COVID: Evidence from Eswatini

January 2024

Fabrizio Santoro, Razan Amine, Tanele Magongo

25 April 2023

Making the IMF Work for Sri Lankans: Part 2

Mick Moore

March 20, when the IMF Board approved an Extended Fund Facility for Sri Lanka, now seems a long time ago….

13 April 2023

How do taxes affect the price of digital financial services?

Hannelore Niesten, Awa Diouf

How the interplay between DFS pricing and taxation affects the cost of DFS, and why transparency and competition are crucial…

12 April 2023

Can real-time electronic invoicing fix VAT’s problem?

Adrienne Lees

VAT’s self-enforcement mechanism is powerful and also its greatest weakness. In Rwanda, China and Ethiopia, e-invoicing systems show promising early…

6 April 2023

Building trust by earmarking taxes on digital financial services

Mary Abounabhan, Hannelore Niesten, Amrita Saha

Can earmarking provide an answer to the controversy of taxes on digital financial services such as Ghana’s e-levy? Although an…

27 February 2023

Making the IMF Work for Sri Lankans

The government of Sri Lanka is negotiating a large conditional loan from the IMF. A formal agreement is likely to…

20 February 2023

The Ghana e-levy: Can the latest rate reduction win greater public acceptance and increase revenue?

Awa Diouf, Alex Ampaabeng, Mary Abounabhan, Hannelore Niesten

The reduced tax rate on electronic transactions is unlikely to satisfy Ghanaians given the country’s rising inflation…

27 July 2026

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…

21 July 2025

Taxing Smarter: How Research Collaboration is Strengthening Tax Systems in Africa

Amidst growing fiscal pressures, rising debt service costs, and shrinking aid budgets, strengthening domestic resource mobilisation (DRM) has become an…

4 July 2024

ICTD hosts tax research study visit for KESRA delegation

Giulia Mascagni, Bernard Baimwera

ICTD was delighted to welcome a delegation of faculty from the Kenya School of Revenue Authority (KESRA), the Kenya Revenue…

10 May 2024

Wilson Prichard Leads Session on Revenue Systems at Harvard Ministerial Leadership Forum

Wilson Prichard

Harvard University hosted its annual Harvard Ministerial Leadership Forum last month welcoming finance and economic planning ministers from Africa, the…

1 March 2024

Insights on Ghana’s e-levy: What do we know nearly two years on?

A two-day workshop opened in Accra, Ghana, on the topic ‘Taxing mobile money: Lessons and ways forward’. Research findings and…

10 February 2024

Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Tax Administration: Insights from the 2nd RRA Research Conference

Fabrizio Santoro, Denis Mukama

On February 9, 2024, the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) and the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) co-hosted the…

Webinar: Getting Targets Right – How much tax can low-income countries raise?

Virtual

17 April 2024 – 14:00

•

Timezone: UTC

A panel of researchers and practitioners are set to discuss the role that targets can play in building tax capacity. Are optimistic targets helpful or hurtful? And how can we make targets better?

Virtual Workshops: Policy Design for Effective Property Taxation

Virtual

19 July 2023 – 15:00

•

Timezone: Europe/Paris

While property taxation constitutes a major revenue source for subnational governments, it remains one of the most underperforming in lower-income countries. This is but one example of how, in many countries, subnational governments’ revenue-raising efforts are frequently ineffective, inequitable, and

Conference: Building Progressive & Equitable Property Tax Systems in Lower-Income Countries

In person

13 June 2023 – 09:00

•

Timezone: Africa/Nairobi

Nairobi Serena Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya

The Local Government Revenue Initiative (LoGRI) is hosting its Inaugural conference from June 13-15 in Nairobi. The conference aims to unite government administrators, policymakers, and applied researchers to explore strategies for building stronger property tax systems.

Conference: Global Tax Governance at a Crossroads

In person

5 June 2023 – 09:00

•

Timezone: Africa/Dar_es_Salaam

Nairobi Serena Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya

The ICTD is hosting a research and policy conference in Nairobi on the future of global tax governance in partnership with the Kenya School of Revenue Administration, and in collaboration with the the Committee on Fiscal Studies at the University

Current

Traditional Leaders, Taxation, and Statebuilding in Sierra Leone

Start date: 01/04/2024

Completed

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

Start date: 16/08/2023

Completed

Tax compliance and Digital Financial Services in Burkina Faso: The role of formal and informal

Start date: 01/08/2023

Completed

The impact of mobile money taxation on SACCOS and their members in Tanzania

Start date: 02/08/2023

Completed

The impact of taxation on mobile money agents: a case study on Cameroon

Start date: 09/08/2023

Completed

New taxpayer registration through ID – impacts on formalisation and revenue

Start date: 20/10/2025

Completed

E-Levy and merchant payment exemptions in Ghana

Start date: 09/08/2023

Completed

Perceptions, Impact, and Equity of Mobile Money taxation: The case of Ghana’s E-levy

Start date: 03/05/2023

Current

Taxation of High Net Worth Individuals in Sierra Leone

Start date: 14/06/2021

Completed

Does the Expansion of Tax Demands Lead to Greater Political Engagement and Demands for Accountability? Evidence from a Property Tax Reform in Sierra Leone

Start date: 20/10/2022

Completed

Can Traditional Political Institutions Help the State Raise Taxes? Experimental Evidence from Sierra Leone

Start date: 01/09/2022

Completed

The Collateral Effects of Evictions on Property Tax Morale: Class, Preferences and Signals from the State

Start date: 03/11/2021