Impact of Transparency and Government Spending on Tax Ratio in ECOWAS Nations: Pre–COVID Era

Abstract

Tax payment is a phenomenon of global significance irrespective of national differences, ideologies, and uniqueness. In this regard, government expenditure scrutiny and transparent reporting have emerged as an important development in social policy that could help boost tax revenue, although less questioned. Therefore, this study examined the impacts of transparency, and government spending (on health, education, and infrastructure) on tax ratio in ECOWAS nations. This study adopted ex-post facto research design. The secondary data used were collected from fifteen (15) ECOWAS countries and covered the selected pre – COVID period of 2012 to19 (8 years). Panel data regression technique was used to estimate the data collected. The results of the analysis revealed that: transparency positively impact on tax ratio in ECOWAS nation; and government spending on Education and Infrastructure positively impact on tax ratio; while government spending on health has no significant impact on tax ratio among ECOWAS nations. This study concluded that transparency and government spending jointly impact tax ratio in ECOWAS nations. The study therefore recommended that tax authorities should embrace the principle of informational, participatory, and accountability transparency to facilitate a tax system capable of closing tax gap.