Mobilizing VAT Revenues in African Countries

Sijbren Cnossen

No 5102, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Several African countries have to increase their tax revenues to finance human and economic development. General consumption taxes, such as VATs, are the preferred instrument for doing so, because they are less detrimental to growth than income taxes. To enable their use, VAT design has to be improved. Currently, many VATs are so riddled with exemptions and zero rates on domestic goods that they resemble extended excise tax systems, while the standard rate is mainly confined to luxury goods. VAT base-broadening would not only increase revenue, but also reduce the economic distortions and administrative complexities of most taxes.

Keywords: Africa; collection efficiency; tax effort; VAT (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H21 H25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5102

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