The sources of VAT gaps in WAEMU: Case studies on Benin and Burkina Faso

This paper examines the performance of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) in Benin and Burkina Faso since its introduction in the early 1990s. Both countries are witnessing a gradual rise in tax revenue over the study period. The paper also delivers a sectoral breakdown of inefficiencies in VAT-revenue collection in the two countries. We additionally decompose VAT gap in to ‘compliance gap’ and the ‘policy gap’. We find that the sectors responsible for ‘compliance gap’ are largely similar in the two countries. The gaps in VAT collection represent a considerable loss in potential tax revenue. Addressing them will support the ‘Domestic Resource Mobilization’ (DRM) efforts of the two countries. (download)

R. Houssa