Public revenue mobilisation for inclusive development

How can tax policies be used to increase economic growth and spur job creation? Working closely with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), researchers and policy practitioners explore the links between tax policy and economic growth. The work stream covers topics such as tax policy design and tax administration design, how COVID-19 impacted revenue collection, and how procurement procedures impact prices, quality, and corruption in public expenditure across the region.

In addition to the studies commissioned for this work stream, a primary goal will be to build the capacity to manage and use the tax administrative data which sits at the National Treasury and SARS. This work stream also invests in the future researchers and policymakers of the Southern African region by co-organizing a training in South Africa with UNU-WIDER’s Domestic Revenue Mobilization (DRM) programme. The UNU-WIDER Winter School on tax policy research provides early-career researchers in developing countries with a toolkit in applied public economics, with a special focus on the quantitative analysis of tax and public economics in developing countries.

Blog
Michelle Pleace, Matthew Clance, and Nicky Nicholls
New analysis of income data in South Africa shows the gender pay gap—how much more men earn than women—has increased. According to findings from a study conducted on the SA-TIED programme, in 2021, women in...
January 2024
Public revenue
Working paper
Gemma Wright, Katrin Gasior, Joonas Ollonqvist, Wynnona Steyn, Winile Ngobeni, Helen Barnes, Michael Noble, David McLennan, Jukka Pirttilä, and Ada Jansen
In this paper we explore options for augmenting South Africa’s personal income tax revenue using two microsimulation models: PITMOD simulates the personal income tax system and is underpinned by a dataset comprising a full extract...
December 2023
Public revenue
Working paper
Ada Jansen, Winile Ngobeni, and Wynnona Steyn
South Africa has a progressive broad-based personal income tax system with relatively few tax expenditures. The two most important are the medical contribution plus additional tax credits for medical expenses, and the deductions allowed for...
November 2023
Public revenue
News
SA-TIED
SA-TIED marked a significant milestone on 13 October 2023, by hosting an inaugural National Treasury Secure Data Facility (NTSDF) data lab roadshow at the University of Pretoria . The event featured a presentation by the...
October 2023
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Macro-fiscal analysis
Climate and energy
Reform implementation
Technical workshop
19 Apr 2023 / 10:00 to 20 Apr 2023 / 17:30
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Date: 19 and 20 April 2023 Time: 09:00–16:30 GMT +2 Location: Protea Hotel Johannesburg Balalaika Sandton On the 19th and 20th of April 2023, SA-TIED will host a Work-in-progress author workshop for workstreams 1-3. This...
News
SA-TIED
To showcase key lessons from SA-TIED phase I, the programme produced a series of eight videos that feature the major accomplishments from each of the six work streams and the data lab. Watch all eight...
February 2022
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Macro-fiscal analysis
Climate and energy
Reform implementation
Phase 1 regional growth
Report
SA-TIED
This report is a summary of the SA-TIED programme’s major research contributions to the policy environment. These contributions are not policy proposals, but are meant to inform the policymaking process and fill important gaps in...
January 2022
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Macro-fiscal analysis
Labour market and inequality
Climate and energy
Phase 1 regional growth
Working paper
Maya Goldman, Ihsaan Bassier, Joshua Budlender, Lindi Mzankomo, Ingrid Woolard, and Murray Leibbrandt
We use a fiscal incidence model based on the South African 2014/15 Living Conditions Survey to simulate the poverty reduction impacts of a selection of medium-to-long-term social grant options with the goal of replacing the...
November 2021
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Working paper
Danie Schutte, Pieter van der Zwan, and Caro Janse van Rensburg
This paper analyses the permanent and temporary differences of South African firms for the period covered in the SARS-NT panel. The analysis provides valuable information about the differences between accounting profits and the taxable income...
September 2021
Public revenue
Working paper
Wynnona Steyn, Alexius Sithole, Winile Ngobeni, Eva Muwanga-Zake, Helen Barnes, Michael Noble, David McLennan,Gemma Wright, and Katrin Gasior
In this paper we explore South Africa’s personal income tax system using two microsimulation models. The first, SAMOD, simulates personal income tax and social benefits using a dataset derived from the nationally representative National Income...
July 2021
Public revenue
In the media
SA-TIED
During a speech to parliament on Thursday, South Africa’s Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, discussed the important work being carried out by the Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) programme. Mboweni highlighted the achievements...
May 2021
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Macro-fiscal analysis
Climate and energy
Reform implementation
News
SA-TIED
During the months of April, May, and June, the SA-TIED programme will host six online policy dialogues as part of our SA-TIED Dialogues – Research into Policy series. As phase one of the SA-TIED programme...
March 2021
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Macro-fiscal analysis
Climate and energy
Reform implementation