How Can Governments of Low-Income Countries Collect More Tax Revenue?

Moore, Mick; Prichard, Wilson

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-37595-9_4

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…23 This could go beyond innovative financing mechanisms to review, for example, the extent to which property taxes could yield additional revenue for health. 24 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative domestic financing mechanisms for health in Africa: An evidence review

Brikci

2023

J Health Serv Res Policy

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Objectives This article synthesizes the evidence on what have been called innovative domestic financing mechanisms for health (i.e. any domestic revenue-raising mechanism allowing governments to diversify away from traditional approaches such as general taxation, value-added tax, user fees or any type of health insurance) aimed at increasing fiscal space for health in African countries. The article seeks to answer the following questions: What types of domestic innovative financial mechanisms have been used to finance health care across Africa? How much additional revenue have these innovative financing mechanisms raised? Has the revenue raised through these mechanisms been, or was it meant to be, earmarked for health? What is known about the policy process associated with their design and implementation? Methods A systematic review of the published and grey literature was conducted. The review focused on identifying articles providing quantitative information about the additional financial resources generated through innovative domestic financing mechanisms for health care in Africa, and/or qualitative information about the policy process associated with the design or effective implementation of these financing mechanisms. Results The search led to an initial list of 4035 articles. Ultimately, 15 studies were selected for narrative analysis. A wide range of study methods were identified, from literature reviews to qualitative and quantitative analysis and case studies. The financing mechanisms implemented or planned for were varied, the most common being taxes on mobile phones, alcohol and money transfers. Few articles documented the revenue that could be raised through these mechanisms. For those that did, the revenue projected to be raised was relatively low, ranging from 0.01% of GDP for alcohol tax alone to 0.49% of GDP if multiple levies were applied. In any case, virtually none of the mechanisms have apparently been implemented. The articles revealed that, prior to implementation, the political acceptability, the readiness of institutions to adapt to the proposed reform and the potential distortionary impact these reforms may have on the targeted industry all require careful consideration. From a design perspective, the fundamental question of earmarking proved complex both politically and administratively, with very few mechanisms actually earmarked, thus questioning whether they could effectively fill part of the health-financing gap. Finally, ensuring that these mechanisms supported the underlying equity objectives of universal health coverage was recognized as important. Conclusions Additional research is needed to understand better the potential of innovative domestic revenue generating mechanisms to fill the financing gap for health in Africa and diversify away from more traditional financing approaches. Whilst their revenue potential in absolute terms seems limited, they could represent an avenue for broader tax reforms in support of health. This will require sustained dialogue between Ministries of Health and Ministries of Finance.

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“…23 This could go beyond innovative financing mechanisms to review, for example, the extent to which property taxes could yield additional revenue for health. 24 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative domestic financing mechanisms for health in Africa: An evidence review

Brikci

2023

J Health Serv Res Policy

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“…Therefore, the collection of information on all taxpayers in the country is an effective process to improve tax administration and achieve efficiency. According to the research by Moore & Prichard [39] and Moran & Diaz de Sarralde [40] tax administrations have developed multi-channel taxpayer assistance systems to collect tax information of tax payers. The usage of online assistance channels has been increased in high-income countries.…”

Section: Strategies Based On Developed Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unlocking Sri Lanka's Tax Landscape: A Comprehensive Analysis of Tax Burden and Policy Dynamics in a Sri Lanka

Rathakrishnan,

Yogaraja

2024

AJEBA

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This study aims to analyze the tax burden in developing nations with special reference to Sri Lanka, Taxation is a crucial source of revenue for public services, but there are still obstacles in the way of efficient tax collection, especially in developing countries like Sri Lanka. The present study investigates the tax burden in Sri Lanka and suggests strategies to address obstacles related to tax collection. The report makes three major recommendations based on the body of current literature and research: increasing the tax base, lowering tax rates, and enhancing tax administration. While lowering rates can improve revenue collection without worsening inequality, expanding the tax base is necessary to offset revenue loss from both legal and illicit tax evasion. Increasing efficiency and legitimacy need better tax administration, especially via the use of contemporary technologies. Through the implementation of these measures, policymakers may improve the fiscal sustainability, fairness, and efficacy of taxes, eventually supporting public finances and helping the underprivileged and common people.

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“…Taxation of personal income still accounts for a low proportion of total revenue (Dom et al., 2022), and wealthy individuals seem particularly capable of avoiding taxation (Kangave et al., 2018, 2020; Santoro & Waiswa, 2022). Corporate taxation fares better, but it is still plagued by a variety of often unjustifiable tax exemptions leading to significant loss of revenue (Moore & Prichard, 2020). At the same time, much focus is directed on registering and attempting to tax small informal operators, that are unlikely to contribute much revenue (Moore, 2022), often already face significant burdens from uncodified tax‐like levies (van den Boogard et al., 2019) and seldom fully understand the working of the national tax system (van den Boogard et al., 2022).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasing domestic revenue mobilisation in low‐income countries (LICs) remains today as important as it was at the launch of the Addis Tax Initiative a few years ago (Addis Tax Initiative, 2015; Dom et al., 2022; Moore & Prichard, 2020). Over the last 2 decades, much donor support has been directed towards improving the functioning of tax systems in LICs (Fjeldstad, 2014) to reduce their aid dependency (Morrisey, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can tax agents support tax compliance in low‐income countries? Evidence from Uganda

Occhiali

Kalyango²

2023

Public Admin & Development

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Tax agents' role in ensuring or deterring compliance with tax obligations has received relatively little attention in the literature. Some evidence has emerged indicating when agents improve (or decrease) compliance, and why taxpayers employ their services. However, most existing studies have focused on high‐ or upper‐middle‐income countries. As the tax systems of low‐income countries present a unique set of compliance issues, a closer look at the role that tax agents play in these contexts is warranted. In this paper, we present evidence from two surveys on their use in Uganda. Our results show that tax agents contribute to an increased quality of filed returns thereby leading to lower audit adjustments The type of services more frequently requested by taxpayers seem to match those in high‐income countries, as do their reasons for engaging tax agents in the first place.

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How Can Governments of Low-Income Countries Collect More Tax Revenue?

Cited by 8 publications

References 32 publications

Innovative domestic financing mechanisms for health in Africa: An evidence review

Innovative domestic financing mechanisms for health in Africa: An evidence review

Unlocking Sri Lanka's Tax Landscape: A Comprehensive Analysis of Tax Burden and Policy Dynamics in a Sri Lanka

Can tax agents support tax compliance in low‐income countries? Evidence from Uganda

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