数字化和税收动员

Digitalisation and TaxRevenue Mobilisation:Evidence for PolicyAction Copyright © 2025 GSMA 1.Insight focus •The mobile sector—central to enabling digital publicservices and vital to the economy through job creation,productivity gains, and GDP growth—often faces adisproportionately heavy and sometimes discriminatorytax burden compared to other industries. Ensuring thatits taxation reflects its strategic importance is thereforeessential. •Digitalisation is transforming the fiscal landscape,serving as a key catalyst for revenue mobilisationthrough more transparent, efficient, and inclusive taxsystems. •The review of existing evidence indicates that theimplementation of GovTech—digital technologies usedby governments to deliver public services—particularlyin tax administration is associated with measurablerevenue increases. These gains are consistentlyattributed to direct mechanisms, including improvedcompliance, an expanded tax base, and greatercollection efficiency. 2.Transmission channels GovTech influences revenue mobilisation through twodistinct channels: direct and indirect. While both arerelevant, direct channels offer clearer and more immediatefiscal effects, serving as the primary levers through whichdigital tools translate into revenue gains. •Indirect channelsreflect how digitalisation strengthensthe broader economic and institutional environment,thereby shaping its impact on revenue. These effectsinclude improvements in international trade, economicformalisation, and institutional quality. •Direct channelsfocus on the internal functioning of taxadministration, leading to: –Improved operational efficiency:Simplifying andaccelerating tax processes.–Enhanced taxpayer compliance:Increasing theaccuracy and timeliness of tax obligations.–Tax base expansion:Integrating informal or untaxedentities into the formal system. 3.Digital connectivity as a catalyst for tax revenue Cross-country evidence underscores digital connectivityas a critical enabler of tax revenue outcomes, particularly inlow- and middle-income countries. •Adegboye et al. (2022)examine internet penetrationand tax revenue across 48 Sub-Saharan Africancountries using dynamic GMM estimation. They find apositive association between internet access and bothtotal and non-resource tax revenues. •Gnangnon and Brun (2018),using dynamic panelestimations via the Generalised Method of Moments(GMM) on data from 164 countries, demonstrate thatnarrowing the internet gap enhances non-resource taxrevenue in the short to medium term, with the strongesteffects in low-income countries. •Tinta (2023)analyses 111 countries and finds thatICT use—more than access—positively influencesnon-resource tax revenue, especially in digitally lessdeveloped contexts. The study uses composite ICTindices and applies OLS, IV, and GMM methods tostrengthen causal inference. 4.GovTech and tax revenue: evidence on direct impact channels A growing body of empirical studies, often employingrobust causal inference methods, investigates the effectof GovTech tools—such as mobile payments and e-taxplatforms—on tax revenues through direct channels:compliance, collection efficiency, and base expansion. The evidence is summarised in the table below.Improvements in compliance are the most consistentlydocumented; efficiency gains are also evident, typicallymeasured by time savings. Tax base expansion remainscomparatively underexplored. 5.Conclusions and policy actions assessment of the direct channels—tax compliance,collection efficiency, and base expansion—throughwhich digitalisation enhances fiscal performanceand informs the design and evaluation of tax reforminitiatives. •Advancing digitalisation for sustainable revenuemobilisation:Implementing GovTech systems thatenhance compliance, streamline administration,and broaden the tax base offers a more sustainablestrategy than introducing new taxes or sector-specificlevies. Strengthening these systems is essential notonly for sustained revenue mobilisation but also foradvancing a more equitable and transparent taxsystem. •Reforming sectoral taxation of mobile services:Themobile sector is central to the digital transformationof governments, particularly in the modernisation oftax systems. However, the disproportionate levels oftaxation it faces—especially through sector-specificlevies—risk deterring investment, stifling innovation,and reducing demand for mobile services, potentiallyundermining long-term revenue outcomes. Striking anappropriate fiscal balance for this enabling sector is apolicy imperative. •Forging strategic partnerships for evidence-baseddigital tax reform:Generating policy-relevant evidenceon the impact of digitalisation on revenue mobilisationrequires closer collaboration with revenue authorities,who hold the operational data essential for rigorousanalysis. Access to this data enables empirical References Mascagni, G., Mengistu, A. T., & Woldeyes, F. B. (2021). Can ICTsincrease tax compliance? Evidence