Tax mobilization in sub-Saharan Africa : Do illicit financial flows matter ?

Abdou THIAO

Université Cheikh Anta DIOP de Dakar, Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion,
Département d’Analyse et Politique Economiques, Sénégal thiaoabdou76@gmail.com
ORCID : 0000-0002-0724-242X

Souleymane OUONOGO

Université des Sciences Sociales et de Gestion de Bamako,

Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion, Département d’Economie, Mali ouane07@yahoo.fr
ORCID : 0000-0003-4631-1368

Abstract : The objective of this paper is to analyze the contribution of illicit financial flows to the differences in tax rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Our sample contains 18 cooperative countries and 12 non-cooperative countries with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering / Countering the Financing of Terrorism. Using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, we find that the difference in illicit financial flows explains the differences in tax burden.

Keywords : tax burden, illicit financial flows, VAT gap.

JEL Classification : H20, F21, H25.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18559/RIELF.2021.1.3