Tax mobilization in sub-Saharan Africa : Do illicit financial flows matter?

Authors

  • Abdou Thiao Université Cheikh Anta DIOP de Dakar, Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion, Département d ’ Analyse et Politique Economiques, Sénégal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0724-242X
  • Souleymane Ouonogo Université des Sciences Sociales et de Gestion de Bamako, Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion, Département d ’ Economie, Mali https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4631-1368

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18559/rielf.2021.1.3

Keywords:

tax burden, illicit financial flows, VAT gap

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze the contribution of illicit financial flows to the differences in tax rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Our sample contains 18 cooperative countries and 12 non-cooperative countries with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering / Countering the Financing of Terrorism. Using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, we find that the difference in illicit financial flows explains the differences in tax burden.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Aaskoven, L. (2018). Budget institutions and taxation. Public Choice, 174(3-4), 335-349. Agha, A., & Haughton, J. (1996). Designing VAT systems: Some efficiency considerations. The Reviews of Economics and Statistics, 78(2), 303-308.
View in Google Scholar

Ajaz, T., & Ahmad, E. (2010). The effect of corruption and governance on tax revenues. The Pakistan Development Review, 49(4), 405-417.
View in Google Scholar

Attila, G., Chambas, G., & Combes, J. L. (2009). Corruption et mobilisation des recettes publiques : une analyse économétrique. Recherches Économiques de Louvain, 75(2), 229-268.
View in Google Scholar

Bahl, R. W. (1971). A regression approach to tax effort and tax ratio analysis. (International Monetary Fund Staff Paper No. 18, 570-612).
View in Google Scholar

Baker, R. W. (2005). Capitalism’s Achilles heel: Dirty money and how to renew the free-market system. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
View in Google Scholar

Barbone, L., Bird, R. M., & Vazquez-Caro, J. (2012). The costs of VAT: A review of the literature. (CASE Network Reports No. 106, 2-66).
View in Google Scholar

Baum, A., Hodge, A., Mineshima, A., Badia, M. M., & Tapsoba, R. (2017). Can they do it all? Fiscal space in low-income countries. (IMF Working Paper No. 110).
View in Google Scholar

Bekoe, W., Danquah, M., & Sampson, K. S. (2016). Tax reforms and revenue mobilization in Ghana. Journal of Economic Studies, 43(4), 522-534.
View in Google Scholar

Blinder, A. S. (1973). Wage discrimination: Reduced form and structural estimates. The Journal of Human Resources, 8, 436-455.
View in Google Scholar

Bogetić, Z., & Hassan, F. (1993). Determinants of value added tax revenue: A cross section analysis. (World Bank Policy Research Paper No. 1203).
View in Google Scholar

Caldeira, E., Compaoré, A., Dama, A. A., Mansour, M., & Rota-Graziosi, G. (2020). Tax effort in sub-Saharan African countries: Evidence from a new dataset. (Études et Documents, No. 2, CERDI).
View in Google Scholar

Carfora, A., Pansini, R. V., & Pisani, S. (2018). Spatial dynamic modelling of tax gap: The case of Italy. European Spatial Research and Policy, 25(1), 8-28.
View in Google Scholar

CASE. (2017). Study and reports on the VAT gap in the EU-28 Member States. Final Report. Warsaw : Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union.
View in Google Scholar

Castro, G. A., & Camarillo, D. B. R. (2014). Determinants of tax revenue in OECD countries over the period 2001-2011. Contaduría y Administración, 59(3), 35-59.
View in Google Scholar

Combes, J. L., Minea, A., & Sawadogo, P. N. (2019). Assessing the effects of combating illicit financial flows on domestic tax revenue mobilization in developing countries. (Études et Documents, No. 7, CERDI).
View in Google Scholar

D’Agosto, E., Marigliani, M., & Pisani, S. (2014). Asymmetries in the territorial VAT gap. Argomenti di Discussione of Italian Revenue Agency, 2.
View in Google Scholar

Ebeke, C., Mansour, M., & Rota-Graziosi, G. (2016). The power to tax in sub-Saharan Africa: LTUs, VATs, and SARAs. (Études et Documents, No. 11, CERDI).
View in Google Scholar

Even, W. E., & Macpherson, D. A. (1990). The gender gap in pensions and wages. Review of Economics Statistics, 72(2), 259-265.
View in Google Scholar

Even, W. E., & Macpherson, D. A. (1993). The decline of private sector unionism and the gender wage gap. Journal of Human Resources, 28(2), 279-296.
View in Google Scholar

FMI. (2017). World Economic Outlook. Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/en/publications/sprolls/world-economic-outlook-database.
View in Google Scholar

Fontana, A. (2010). What does not get measured, does not get done : The methods and limitations of measuring illicit financial flows. Bergen : U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre.
View in Google Scholar

Fuest, C., & Riedel, N. (2009): Tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax expenditures in develop- ing countries: A review of the literature. Report prepared for UK DFID. Oxford: Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
View in Google Scholar

Gaspar, V., Jaramillo, L., & Wingender, P. (2016). Tax capacity and growth: Is there a tipping?. (FMI, Working Paper No. 234).
View in Google Scholar

Groupe de haut niveau sur les flux financiers illicites en provenance d’Afrique. (2015). Les flux financiers illicites en provenance d’Afrique. Nations Unies, Commission Economique pour l’Afrique. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10855/22692
View in Google Scholar

Gupta, A. S. (2007). Determinants of tax revenue efforts in developing countries. (IMF Working Paper, No. 184).
View in Google Scholar

Hollingshead, A. (2010). The implied tax revenue loss from trade mispricing. Washington: Global Financial Integrity.
View in Google Scholar

Houssa, R., Megersa, K., & Nikiema, R. (2017). The sources of VAT gaps in WAEMU: Case studies on Benin and Burkina Faso. (Centre of Research in the Economics of Development (CRED), University of Namur, No. 22).
View in Google Scholar

International Centre for Tax and Development. (2018). Government revenue dataset. Online database.
View in Google Scholar

Kaldor, N. (1963). Will underdeveloped countries learn to tax? Foreign Affairs, 41(2), 410-419. Kar, D., & Cartwright-Smith, D. (2010). Illicit financial flows from Africa: Hidden resources for development. Global Financial Integrity. Retrieved from https://gfintegrity.org/report/briefing-paper-illicit-flows-from-africa/
View in Google Scholar

Kar, D., & LeBlanc, B. (2013). Illicit financial flows from developing countries: 2002-2011. Global Financial Integrity. Retrieved from https://gfintegrity.org/report/2013-global-report-illicit financial-flows-from-developing-countries-2002-2011/
View in Google Scholar

Kar, D., & Spanjers, J. (2014). Illicit financial flows from developing countries: 2003-2012. Global Financial Integrity. Retrieved from https://gfintegrity.org/report/2014-global-report-illicit-financial-flows-from-developing-countries-2003-2012/
View in Google Scholar

Karagöz, K. (2013). Determinants of tax revenue: Does sectorial composition matter?. Journal of Finance, Accounting and Management, 4(2), 50-63.
View in Google Scholar

Kasnauskienė, G., & Krimisieraitė, J. (2015). Using MIMIC models to examine determinants of VAT gap in Lithuania. Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, 6(1), 107-126.
View in Google Scholar

Keen, M., & Mansour, M. (2010). Revenue mobilization in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges from globalization I-Trade reform. Development Policy Review, 28(5), 553-571.
View in Google Scholar

Lotz, J. R., & Morss, E. R. (1970). A theory of tax level determinants for developing countries. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 18(3), 328-341.
View in Google Scholar

Majerová, I. (2016). The impact of some variables on the VAT gap in the Member States of the European Union. Oeconomia Copernicana, 7(3), 339-355.
View in Google Scholar

Mallaye, D., & Yogo, U. T. (2015). Hétérogénéité des effets de l’aide sur la croissance économique en Afrique subsaharienne : Evidences comparatives entre pays stables et pays en poste conflit. African Development Review, 27(3), 216-229.
View in Google Scholar

Mascagni, G. (2016). Aid and taxation in Ethiopia. The Journal of Development Studies, 52, 1744-1758.
View in Google Scholar

Moore, M. (2007). How does taxation affect the quality of governance?. (IDS Working Paper No. 280).
View in Google Scholar

Moore, M. (2013). Obstacles to increasing tax revenues in low income countries. (ICTD Working Paper No. 15).
View in Google Scholar

Oaxaca, R. (1973). Male-female wage differentials in urban labor markets. International Economic Review, 14, 693-709.
View in Google Scholar

Reckon, L. L. P. (2009). Study to quantify and analyse the VAT gap in the EU-25 Mem- ber States. Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/ tax_cooperation/combating_tax_fraud/reckon_report_sep2009.pdf
View in Google Scholar

Shin, K. (1969). International difference in tax ratio. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 51, 213-220.
View in Google Scholar

Spanjers, J., & Salomon, M. (2017). Illicit financial flows to and from developing countries: 2005-2014. Global Financial Integrity. Retrieved from https://gfintegrity.org/report/illicit-financial-flows-to-and-from-developing-countries-2005-2014/
View in Google Scholar

Szczypińska, A. (2019).What drives the VAT gap in the European Union?. (MF Working Paper series N°34).
View in Google Scholar

World Bank. (2018a). World Development Indicators. Online database. World Bank. (2018b). World Governance Indicators. Online database.
View in Google Scholar

Yun, M. S. (2004). Decomposing differences in the first moment. Economics Letters, 82, 275-280.
View in Google Scholar

Zídková, H. (2014). Determinants of VAT gap in EU. Prague Economic Papers, 4, 514-530. Zidková, H., & Pavel, J. (2017). What causes VAT gap?. Ekonomický časopis, 64(9), 811-826.
View in Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2021-06-30

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Thiao, A., & Ouonogo, S. (2021). Tax mobilization in sub-Saharan Africa : Do illicit financial flows matter?. La Revue Internationale Des Économistes De Langue Française, 6(1), 61-78. https://doi.org/10.18559/rielf.2021.1.3

Similar Articles

1-10 of 184

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.