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

Journal Article

Developing influence: the power of ‘the rest’ in global tax governance

May 2022

Martin Hearson, Rasmus Corlin Christensen, Tovony Randriamanalina

Working Paper

Mandating Digital Tax Tools as a Response to Covid: Evidence from Eswatini

May 2022

Fabrizio Santoro, Razan Amine, Tanele Magongo

Journal ArticlePartner Publication

Local Elites as State Capacity: How City Chiefs Use Local Information to Increase Tax Compliance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

March 2022

Pablo Balán, Augustin Bergeron, Gabriel Tourek, Jonathan Weigel

Journal Article

Co-financing community-driven development through informal taxation: Evidence from south-central Somalia

March 2022

Vanessa van den Boogaard, Fabrizio Santoro

Working Paper

Taliban Taxation in Afghanistan: (2006-2021)

March 2022

Rahmatullah Amiri, Ashley Jackson

BookPartner Publication

Innovations in Tax Compliance: Building Trust, Navigating Politics, and Tailoring Reform

February 2022

Roel Dom, Anna Custers, Stephen Davenport, Wilson Prichard

Partner Publication

What’s the catch? Fiscal Policies for Fisheries in five African Countries

February 2022

Giovanni Occhiali

Working Paper

Tax and Governance in the Context of Scarce Revenues: Inefficient Tax Collection and its Implications in Rural West Africa

February 2022

Vanessa van den Boogaard, Rachel Beach

Journal Article

Enabling Tax Bargaining: Supporting More Meaningful Tax Transparency and Taxpayer Engagement in Ghana and Sierra Leone

January 2022

Vanessa van den Boogaard, Wilson Prichard, Rachel Beach, Fariya Mohiuddin

Book

The Routledge Handbook of Smuggling

December 2021

Max Gallien, Florian Weigand

Partner Publication

Informal Workers and the State: The Politics of Connection and Disconnection During a Global Pandemic

December 2021

Max Gallien, Vanessa van den Boogaard

Working Paper

Glimpses of Fiscal States in sub-Saharan Africa

November 2021

Mick Moore

18 May 2026

The future of development starts with getting tax right

Giulia Mascagni

Taxation is a central part of a new era of development that has fiscal resilience, system change and people at…

28 April 2026

The IRD is finding its mojo

Mick Moore

The government recently promised to build the department a new HQ. Not entirely coincidentally, the IRD itself has recently begun…

24 June 2025

Pakistan’s support for wealth taxes

Max Gallien, Umair Javed, Vanessa van den Boogaard

In a context marked by deepening fiscal constraint, wealth taxes offer a potential solution for Pakistan as they have done…

30 May 2025

Bridging the divide: Rwanda’s quest for equitable digital governance

Elizabeth Bermeo, Fabrizio Santoro

In Rwanda, digital transformation is driven by IremboGov, an integrated e-government platform that streamlines access to essential services. While this…

28 April 2025

Why tax matters in fragile states and how donors can support it

Vanessa van den Boogaard

Fragile contexts are home to 24% of the world’s population (1.9 billion people), and three-quarters (73%) of the world’s extreme…

23 July 2024

Taxing mobile money: Five critical strategies for policymakers

Awa Diouf, Hannelore Niesten, Mary Abounabhan

Revenue authorities, policymakers, industry, and researchers met to explore how taxes on mobile money could be effectively and equitably designed….

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…

Enhancing Transparency, Accountability and Effectiveness of Tax Expenditures

In person

15 October 2026 – 09:00

•

Timezone: Bangkok time, GMT+7

Tax expenditures, including exemptions, deductions, credits and reduced rates, are among the most widely used tax policy tools, yet they are often costly, poorly governed and subject to limited scrutiny. Revenue foregone through tax expenditures worldwide amounts to around USD

A Roadmap for Fiscal Sustainability: Taxing Smarter for Growth and Equity | Global Partnerships Conference side event

Virtual

19 May 2026 – 15:05

•

Timezone: Europe/London

Organised on the sidelines of the Global Partnerships Conference, our side event will provide practical lessons drawn from research on tax reform in lower-income countries.

Webinar: The Role of ODA in Strengthening the Capacity of Accountability Stakeholders for Domestic Revenue Mobilisation

Virtual

9 April 2026 – 13:00

•

Timezone: Europe/London

This webinar, hosted by ATI’s Consultative Group 4, will look into the role of Official Development Assistance in building up the capacity of “accountability stakeholders” — including civil society, academia, and the media — around domestic revenue mobilisation.

Lecture: The need for more inclusive, equitable tax and multilateral systems

Virtual

3 December 2025 – 16:00

•

Timezone: Europe/London

Fresh from the UN Tax Convention negotiations in Nairobi earlier this month, Mukumba will discuss why reforming the global tax architecture matters for everyone, not just the global South that is pushing for change.

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