Taxation and livelihoods: A review of the evidence from fragile and conflict affected rural areas

Oliver Lough, Richard Mallett and Paul Harvey

Type: Working Paper

Date: 27/06/2013

Full summary

Despite growing interest in the connections between taxation, development and governance, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the relationship between taxation and people’s livelihoods, particularly in places affected by war and violent conflict. Yet, it is in these landscapes that people encounter particularly fierce challenges to livelihood recovery, often finding themselves operating in a political economy environment that is at once complex and shifting, as well as brutal and exploitative.

 

This joint paper by the International Centre for Tax and Development [^](ICTD) and the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) reviews the key literature and argues that if we are truly interested in the relationship between taxation and livelihoods, then an exclusive focus on formal taxation is inadequate.

 

This paper is also available through the ICTD website: Taxation and livelihoods: A review of the evidence from fragile and conflict affected rural areas [^]