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

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

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…

8 June 2020

Call for research proposals: Tax and civil society (Closed)

The Call for Proposals for research projects on civil society is currently closed. We aim to open a new call…

29 May 2019

Better Tax initiative launched in Nigeria

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) launched the Better Tax initiative on May 15th in Lagos. The initiative seeks to…

20 February 2019

ICTD Annual Meeting in Kigali: “What Next for Tax Research in Africa?”

On February 5-8th, the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) held its seventh annual meeting in association with the…

10 February 2019

ICTD Welcomes New Research Proposals (Call now closed)

The ICTD is now in a position to fund new research proposals on tax and development. We welcome all proposals…

8 February 2018

ICTD researchers to speak at global tax conference at the United Nations

Two members of our team have been invited to speak at the First Global Conference of the Platform for Collaboration…

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