Embedded Files
Senior Research Fellow, International Centre for Tax and Development
Senior Research Associate, University of Toronto
Media and op-eds
Media and op-eds
A lifeline for global development is under threat, Foreign Policy, 12 August 2025. With Ana Isabel López García.
Pakistan's support for wealth taxes, Dawn, 23 June 2025.
Why tax matters in fragile states and how donors can support it, ICTD, 28 April 2025.
Zakat as non-state social welfare, Dawn, 28 April 2025. With Umair Javed and Max Gallien.
Ghana's e-levy is unfair to the poor and misses its revenue target: A lesson in mobile money tax design, The Conversation, 27 March 2023. With Nana Akua Anyidoho, Max Gallien and Mike Rogan.
Tunisia: Why taxing the informal economy will not boost the country's finances/ Tunisie: taxer l'économie informelle ne permettra pas de redresser les finances du pays, Middle East Eye, 10 November 2022. With Max Gallien.
New data on the e-levy in Ghana: Unpopular tax on mobile money transfers is hitting the poor hard, The Conversation/ Citi NewsRoom/ Graphic Online/ Modern Ghana/ allAfrica, 18 September 2022. With Nana Akua Anyidoho, Max Gallien and Mike Rogan.
Gendered geographies and vaccine hesitancy among informal workers, Pakistan's Growth Story, 16 June 2022. With Max Gallien, Umair Javed and Shandana Khan Mohmand.
Citizens of fragile states can fund public services directly — it's working in Somalia, The Conversation/ allAfrica, 12 November 2021.
The World Bank and IMF are using flawed logic in their quest to do away with the informal sector / La Banque mondiale et le FMI utilisent une logique erronée dans leur tentative d'élimination du secteur informel, The Conversation/ Down to Earth (India)/ Quartz/ Moneyweb, 7 November 2021. With Mike Rogan and Max Gallien.
New evidence from Somalia points to effective ways to deliver public services in conflict-affected and fragile contexts, Africa Portal, 22 October 2021.
Les Marocains accepteraient-ils un fonds d'État pour la zakat? / Would Moroccans accept a state zakat fund? Should they? Medias 24, 22 October 2021. With Max Gallien, Umair Javed, and Soukayna Remmal.
Women don't value their own work, India Development Review, 17 December 2020. With Aiman Haque and Max Gallien.
Fill the gaps, feel the pain: Insights from Sierra Leone on an epidemic's impact on local taxation, public services, and the poor, African Arguments, 25 March 2020.
Podcasts
Podcasts
Is the informal sector a tax goldmine? Tax Cast Norway (Pengeland)
In low-income countries, large parts of the economy are characterized by informality, and low tax coverage. Governments and international development partners have long viewed the informal sector as an untapped goldmine for boosting national tax revenues. However, recent research suggests that this revenue potential may be overestimated. In this episode, we talk to Vanessa van den Boogaard from the International Center for Tax and Development (ICTD). We discuss why measures to tax the informal sector often fail, and where it actually pays to direct these efforts instead.
Blogs
Blogs
Pakistanis are paying over 1.7 billion GBP in zakat every year—mostly to women, ICTD, 26 March 2025.
Reasons to be optimistic about tax and the informal sector, ICTD, 12 March 2025. With Max Gallien.
Why do armed groups tax? It's not just about the money/ Pourquoi les groupes armés imposent-ils des taxes? Leurs motifs ne sont pas seulement pécuniers, ICTD, 30 March 2022. With Tanya Bandula-Irwin, Max Gallien, Ashley Jackson and Florian Weigand.
The inequity of informal financing of public education in Sierra Leone, ICTD, 27 November 2020.
Building coalitions to promote equitable taxation beyond the Covid era, ICTD and the International Budget Partnership, 7 July 2020. With Jason Lakin and Paolo de Renzio.
How can civil society help to achieve more equitable and accountable tax systems? / En quoi la société civile peut-elle contribuer à la mise en place de systèmes fiscaux plus équitables et plus responsables? ICTD, 8 June 2020.
Unpacking formalisation: The need for a new research agenda on taxation and the informal economy / Déballage sur la formalisation: nécessité d'un nouveau programme de recherche sur la fiscalité et l'économie informelle, ICTD, 21 April 2020. With Max Gallien.
To fight COVID-19, only the formal economy is getting tax breaks. The informal economy may be asked to foot the bill / Pour lutter contre la Covid-19, seule l'économie formelle bénéfice des allègements fiscaux. L'économie informelle pourrait être appelée à régler l'addition, ICTD, 8 April 2020. With Max Gallien.
The political economy of tax incentives in low-income countries, ICTD, 14 January 2013.
Selected webinars and presentations
Selected webinars and presentations
"Gender equity and sustainable tourism taxation." United Nations ESCAP Pacific Office, 12 March 2026.
"Domestic resources, global goals, unlocking domestic resources for development." Devex, World Bank and IMF annual meetings, 16 October 2025 (Washington, DC).
"Public support for wealth and progressive taxes in Pakistan." ICTD webinar "Taxing wealth in lower income countries: lessons learnt and priorities for action," 19 June 2025.
"Building More Equitable Tax Systems: Strategies and Priorities for FfD4." Financing for Development PrepCom, 2 December 2024 (New York).
"Building trust to strengthen tax compliance." UNDP Dialogue on Tax for SDGs, 13-17 November 2023 (New York, presentation at 4:44).
"Advancing gender equality through tax policy." UNDP Dialogue on Tax for SDGs, 13-17 November 2023 (New York, presentation at 6:30).
"Gender and informal systems of local public finance in Sierra Leone." United Nations Commission on the Status of Women's 63rd session, 2019 (New York).
"Approaches to improve tax compliance in the informal sector." Nigerian State Internal Revenue Services and the African Centre for Tax and Governance, 21 February 2023 (Abuja).
"Gender, taxation and informality: A view from lower income countries." Webinaire de la Plateforme française d'échange et de coordination interministérielle sur la mobilisation des ressources intérieures publiques, 26 September 2023.
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