We study underreporting of business income in Denmark using transaction-level data from a mobile money transfer app. In cross-sectional analysis as well as in event-studies, we find that business owners receive significantly more mobile transfers on their personal accounts than employees. We argue that these excess transfers are likely to reflect customer payments, which are subject to little monitoring by the tax authorities and are unlikely to be reported as income. We show that mobile transfers are particularly prevalent among business owners at the bottom of the income distribution and discuss the implications for the measurement of inequality.

Governments in low-income countries have progressively introduced electronic tax filing and payment systems in the hope of reducing enforcement costs for tax administrations, compliance costs for taxpayers, and the risk of collusive in-person interactions between the two. Combining high-frequency administrative data with a dynamic difference-in-differences approach, we investigate the causal impact of a reform that made the use of these technologies mandatory for large taxpayers in Senegal. Our findings indicate no—or only limited—effects on key measures of tax compliance, such as the probability of declaring, the probability of paying, or tax payments. However, e-filing reduces the prevalence of missing values by more than 90 per cent, with notable measurement implications. In particular, we show that aggregate formal employment is at least 20 per cent greater than suggested by digitised paper-based records.

Taxes on digital financial services are rising across Africa. Ghana introduced its electronic levy (e-Levy) in May 2022 to raise revenue for national development and help formalize the economy, but the policy generated widespread public dissatisfaction. Using data from the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications on mobile money transactions (sending, receiving, payments, withdrawals), disaggregated by region, and nationally representative survey data from the International Centre for Tax and Development covering individuals and businesses, this paper assesses the e-Levy’s effects on usage and public perceptions. Results show an initial decline in mobile money activity, followed by longer-term positive effects, particularly in payments to formal merchants. Survey findings reveal limited public understanding of the levy’s design across all regions, highlighting the need for greater awareness. Analysis of Ghana Revenue Authority data further shows revenues have fallen well below projections, raising doubts about the levy’s effectiveness in generating substantial public funds.

Governments in lower-income countries face mounting fiscal pressure amid rising debt, declining aid, and intensifying public contestation. New taxes are often unavoidable but politically risky in these times of fiscal crisis with mobile money taxes have proven especially contentious across Africa. This study centres citizen knowledge in understanding perceptions and grievances s of Ghana’s electronic transfer levy (e-levy), introduced in 2022 during a debt crisis and later repealed. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of 1,500 households and focus group discussions, we investigate what citizens know about the tax, how knowledge shapes support or opposition, and whether it moderates partisan effects. We find that while awareness of the e-levy was widespread, detailed knowledge of its design was limited. Greater knowledge modestly increased support, but political affiliation remained a strong predictor of attitudes.