Amina Ebrahim presents research at the University of Michigan-Dearborn

On 4 December 2024, UNU-WIDER Research Fellow Amina Ebrahim presents groundbreaking research from the Tax research for development project at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

This research, part of UNU-WIDER’s Domestic Revenue Mobilization programme, focuses on harnessing administrative tax data to drive impactful research and policy in Global South countries.

Amina shares her latest findings on VAT misreporting in Tanzania, with a particular emphasis on the compliance gap among small, micro-, and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs). Leveraging innovative machine learning techniques, her study uncovers critical insights into revenue mobilization and tax compliance challenges.

Abstract

The collection of Value-Added Tax (VAT) is pivotal for achieving domestic revenue objectives through effective tax reform. Yet, VAT gap estimation remains rare in developing countries.

Amina’s research uses tax declaration and audit data to measure VAT misreporting in Tanzania. By applying a machine learning approach, the study predicts evasion patterns in unaudited firms and periods, revealing key components of the tax compliance gap.