MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: L-IFT Studying Fairness of Presumptive Taxation in Ethiopia

Low-income Financial Transformation (L-IFT), a firm with teams in 13 countries in Africa and Asia, recently reported on a study it is performing with data being collected over one year from 140 small businesses in Ethiopia. The study addresses the way the Ethiopian government taxes enterprises that bring in less than ETB 500,000 (USD 8,900) per year. Rather than asking the businesses to submit financial data, the Ministry of Finance estimates their income based on external characteristics. The goal of the study is to investigate “the accuracy of