The Key Drivers of VAT Revenue in the Economic Community of West African States

This paper investigated the key drivers of Value Added Tax revenue in nine Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member countries and highlights the options that best assures governments of increased VAT revenue while keeping its regressive impact minimum. The study used an OLS with fixed-effects model to analyze a panel data of these countries, between 2000 and 2015. The results showed that improved VAT administrative efficiency (C-efficiency) and implicit VAT rate are key drivers of VAT revenue in the ECOWAS countries. Imports and government spending had a positive impact on VAT revenue. On the contrary, government fiscal deficit and level of corruption influenced VAT revenue negatively in those countries. As such, in addition to the current tax enforcement regimes operational in ECOWAS, parallel taxpayer reward schemes for improving VAT compliance and widening the tax net in ECOWAS are recommended. When they are successfully implemented, tax revenue will improve significantly because taxpayer attitude will change positively about tax payment. With the increase in tax revenue, the government can embark on additional development programs to improve the well-being of the citizenry, which will in turn raise the public's trust in government.