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.

Led By

Nothing to show.

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

Research in Brief

State Visibility and the Fiscal Contract: Experimental Evidence from Tanzania

August 2026

Revocatus Paul, Jonathan Karver, Christopher Hoy, Ephraim Mdee, Massaga Fimbo, Zain Chaudry

Working Paper

State Visibility and the Fiscal Contract: Experimental Evidence from Tanzania

August 2026

Revocatus Paul, Jonathan Karver, Christopher Hoy, Ephraim Mdee, Massaga Fimbo, Zain Chaudry

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

Journal Article

The state-capital nexus in fragile contexts: a case study of tax relations in Somalia

August 2025

Gayatri Sahgal

Policy Brief

Public Support for Wealth and Progressive Taxes in Pakistan

June 2025

Max Gallien, Umair Javed, Vanessa van den Boogaard

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

Briefing

First Draft of the FfD4 Outcome Document: Recommendations on Domestic Public Resources

April 2025

Research in Brief

Tax Revenue Mobilisation in Conflict-affected Developing Countries

February 2025

Vanessa van den Boogaard, Wilson Prichard, Nikola Milicic, Matthew Benson, Deanndre Chen

Journal Article

Taxing high-net-worth individuals in Nigeria: Challenges and opportunities for policy-makers from a preliminary investigation

February 2025

Giovanni Occhiali, Jalia Kangave, Hamza Ahmed Khan

5 July 2023

Informal Taxation in Ethiopia: Typologies, Prospects, and Challenges

Misganaw Gashaw Beza, Geremew Worku

Formal tax and non-tax revenue sources, which are estimated to account for 50 to 80% of government revenue in the…

21 June 2023

Roadblocks and revenues: new geographies of taxation in conflict

Mina Radončić, Markus Geray

Checking out checkpoints The DIIS, together with the ICTD and the Centre on Armed Groups, hosted a three-day workshop on…

5 June 2023

Africa Rising: A Proposal for a Continental Tax Governance Structure

Afton Titus

Developments in international tax are happening fast. It is vital we form an African international tax forum to make tax…

1 June 2023

The limited impact of the BEPS Multilateral Instrument

Antonia Hohmann

Notwithstanding the major diplomatic achievement, the success of the BEPS Multilateral Instrument (MLI) was limited. It failed to zero out…

31 May 2023

The promise and limitations of information technology for tax mobilisation

Oyebola Okunogbe, Fabrizio Santoro, Celeste Scarpini

As digital technologies continue to gain momentum in lower-income countries, tax authorities are increasingly adopting technology solutions to improve their…

30 May 2023

Have we reached a critical juncture for global tax governance?

Martin Hearson

A century since the League of Nations first began to discuss international taxation, the ICTD’s Martin Hearson argues that global…

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…

Conference: Revisiting the past, looking to future — Moving beyond the fiscal contract?

In person

21 October 2025 – 17:30

•

Timezone: Europe/Oslo

Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien, Oslo, Norway

ICTD’s Mick Moore and Vanessa van den Boogaard to participate in panel sessions for the TaxCapDev conference on ‘moving beyond the fiscal contract’.

Taxing Smarter after Aid: Accountability, Equity and Public Finance in a New Global Reality

Virtual

16 October 2025 – 15:30

•

Timezone: America/New_York

Join the ICTD, Accountability Lab, and the TAI Collaborative during the IMF/WB Annual Meetings for an afternoon of discussion on pressing fiscal and fairness issues in the ‘tax era of development’.

Building More Effective and Equitable Tax Systems: Priorities and Strategies for FfD4

In person

3 December 2024 – 10:00

•

Timezone: America/New_York

United Nations Headquarters, East 45th Street, New York, NY, USA

The ICTD will be hosting a side event at the Second Preparatory Committee Session of the Financing for Development Conference.

Panel: Beyond the money: How tax policies are shaping politics and society in Africa

Virtual

12 September 2024 – 15:00

•

Timezone: Europe/London

This interactive panel will discuss the relationship between taxes and trust in the state, elections and public mobilisation, informality, and gendered social relations.

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