Fintech and tax in Sub-Saharan Africa: taxation versus financial inclusion

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Mader, Philip, Duvendack, Maren and Macdonald, Keir (2022) Fintech and tax in Sub-Saharan Africa: taxation versus financial inclusion. Journal of Cultural Economy, 15 (4). pp. 488-507. ISSN 1753-0350

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Abstract

The rise of digital financial services has attracted growing attention from governments in Sub-Saharan Africa seeking to raise tax revenue. In the context of global concerns around how governments can tax the digital economy and fintech, we evaluate recent debates over mobile money taxation in Africa as fundamentally political, rather than technical matters. We assess in depth three such debates, in Kenya, Uganda and Malawi. In doing so, we draw on a critical reading of recent political economy literature on taxation, state-business relations, and the ambiguity of financial inclusion. Our research highlights how political questions about tax materialize as technical ones, how governments’ tax bargaining is influenced by business interests, and how the ambiguity of financial inclusion allows qualms over adverse effects on financial services to frustrate and supersede other policy concerns.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: digital financial inclusion,sub-saharan africa,mobile money,political economy,tax bargaining,taxation,cultural studies ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3316
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Impact Evaluation
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Gender and Development
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 26 Jul 2022 12:30
Last Modified: 28 Mar 2025 11:18
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/86863
DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2022.2087718

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