An analysis of the tax revenue components in sub-sahara Africa

Reforming the tax system in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) will require a closer look at the individual tax revenue components, not just tax revenues as a whole. The findings in this paper established that tax revenue determinants affect the individual tax revenue components in different ways. In this connection, we find that the tax structure in SSA is skewed towards indirect taxes because the existing structural, institutional and policy characteristics in these countries are not conducive for the collection of direct taxes. On the other hand, indirect taxes are less susceptible to these influences, hence can be collected with little effort.