Expanding the Tax Base in Zambia
Expanding the Tax Base in Zambia
Our work examines ways to fast-track Zambia’s efforts to collect taxes from a broader base of small businesses and individuals.
Our work examines ways to fast-track Zambia’s efforts to collect taxes from a broader base of small businesses and individuals.
For both equity and efficiency purposes, governments often pursue policies to broaden the effective tax base and include more small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These policies are often constrained by the high compliance costs faced by SMEs and the high enforcement costs faced by administrations. In a joint policy-research engagement with the Zambia Revenue Authority, we are seeking innovative ways to design and implement tax policies for SMEs that are cost-effective for administrations, while addressing equity and efficiency concerns for both SMEs and large firms.
Our Research
We are carrying out work with the Zambia Revenue Authority and using administrative data to investigate ways in which cross-checking of information across different tax bases can yield meaningful information on the activities of SMEs.
Primary Investigators:
Anders Jensen, Harvard University
Evaristo Mwale, Zambia Revenue Authority
This research is supported by:
International Growth Centre
Highlights
The HKS Assistant Professor and EPoD Faculty Affiliate describes his projects with governments in Africa.
EPoD researchers aim to improve government tax capacity and understand citizens’ willingness to pay.