APPLIED RESEARCH

Conducting data-driven and evidence-based research, and developing in-house and collaborative papers, ATAF’s Research and Statistics unit seeks to contribute to new knowledge in tax policy and tax administration, thereby positioning ATAF as a leading continental voice on tax matters in Africa.

Some of the contemporary areas of research include:

• environmental taxes
• digital services taxes
• mineral tax regimes
• efficiency of tax administrations
• curbing illicit financial flows
• tax compliance
• ICT tax systems, taxation of the informal sector
• efficiency of tax audits

The unit provides training in research methods and conducts technical assistance on matters of research methodology. It is also responsible for the annual editions of the African Tax Outlook (ATO), maintaining the ATAF Databank and generating new knowledge through applied research and empirical analysis.

AFRICAN TAX OUTLOOK

The African Tax Outlook (ATO) showcases valuable, practical and relevant tax data of participating countries. The publication assesses and compares participating countries against indicators in various categories such as tax rates, tax bases, tax structure, revenue performance, tax administration, taxpayer service and compliance. These indicators are crucial to African tax authorities as they implement reforms and policies to broaden the tax base, narrow tax gaps, simplify and improve fairness in tax systems, enhance overall voluntary compliance, and keep policy makers informed on tax matters. The ATO has seen the number of participating countries grow from 15 countries at the inception of the project in 2016 to 36 countries to date.

ATAF DATABANK

The ATAF databank is an interactive data portal that displays and describes tax administrative, customs, and macroeconomic data of 35 participating African countries. This data is used every year to produce the annual editions of the ATO publication and related research papers. The ATAF databank collects these statistics and provides in-depth analysis to improve comparability, analysis, quality and accessibility of revenue data for Africa.