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Increasing Tax Collection in African Countries: The Role of Information Technology

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  • Oyebola Okunogbe
  • Fabrizio Santoro

Abstract

Many African countries struggle to collect an adequate amount of tax revenue to support needed investments in public services. This paper examines how African countries may take advantage of recent advances in technology to improve tax administration. It provides an overview of the potential and challenges of different tax categories in Africa: consumption taxes, real estate taxes, trade taxes and income taxes. It then describes the ways in which technology solutions may be deployed to address these challenges by helping to identify the tax base, monitor compliance and facilitate compliance. Lastly, it provides insights from interviews with senior tax administrators across the continent on their practical experiences in adopting technology for taxation.

Suggested Citation

  • Oyebola Okunogbe & Fabrizio Santoro, 2023. "Increasing Tax Collection in African Countries: The Role of Information Technology," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 32(Supplemen), pages 57-83.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:32:y:2023:i:supplement_1:p:i57-i83.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Onyema, Chukwuemeka Collins & Ojo-Agbodu Ayodele. A. Ph & Adebayo M. Adeniyi PhD, 2024. "Tax Collection Techniques and Revenue Generation in Lagos State, Nigeria – A Study of Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue Services," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(2), pages 713-727, February.
    3. Thomas Appiah & Daniel Domeher & Joseph Akadeagre Agana, 2024. "Tax Knowledge, Trust in Government, and Voluntary Tax Compliance: Insights From an Emerging Economy," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    tax compliance; tax administration; taxation; technology; public finance; Africa; JEL Codes: H20; O33;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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