IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/luc/wpaper/24-10.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Corporate taxation in Senegal: Reform and tax avoidance

Author

Listed:
  • Luisito Bertinelli

    (DEM, Université du Luxembourg, LU)

  • Arnaud Bourgain

    (DEM, Université du Luxembourg, LU)

  • Seydi Ababacar Dieng

    (University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, SN)

Abstract

Based on a very large number of Senegalese companies representing the quasi-universe of the formal sector, this study identifies the main drivers of the effective tax rates (ETR) at the firm level, which is a standard way to assess the extent of tax avoidance. We mainly find that ETR tends to decline with firm size and that the 2013 reform generated a general increase of ETR but a ETR reduction for large firms. This result is robust even after accounting for a few unobservable time, industry and firm characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Luisito Bertinelli & Arnaud Bourgain & Seydi Ababacar Dieng, 2024. "Corporate taxation in Senegal: Reform and tax avoidance," DEM Discussion Paper Series 24-10, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:luc:wpaper:24-10
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hdl.handle.net/10993/63078
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Plesko, George A., 2003. "An evaluation of alternative measures of corporate tax rates," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 201-226, June.
    2. Richardson, Grant & Lanis, Roman, 2007. "Determinants of the variability in corporate effective tax rates and tax reform: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 689-704.
    3. Giulia Mascagni & Andualem Mengistu, 2019. "Effective tax rates and firm size in Ethiopia," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(S2), pages 248-273, July.
    4. Brantly Callaway & Andrew Goodman-Bacon & Pedro H. C. Sant'Anna, 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with a Continuous Treatment," Papers 2107.02637, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2025.
    5. Zimmerman, Jerold L., 1983. "Taxes and firm size," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 119-149, April.
    6. Andualem T Mengistu & Kiflu G Molla & Giulia Mascagni, 2022. "Trade Tax Evasion and the Tax Rate: Evidence from Transaction-level Trade Data," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 31(1), pages 94-122.
    7. Gauthier, Bernard & Gersovitz, Mark, 1997. "Revenue erosion through exemption and evasion in Cameroon, 1993," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 407-424, June.
    8. Bernard Gauthier & Ritva Reinikka, 2006. "Shifting Tax Burdens through Exemptions and Evasion: an Empirical Investigation of Uganda," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 15(3), pages 373-398, September.
    9. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    10. Laura Abramovsky & Alexander Klemm & David Phillips, 2014. "Corporate Tax in Developing Countries: Current Trends and Design Issues," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 35, pages 559-588, December.
    11. Luisito Bertinelli & Arnaud Bourgain, 2016. "Tax Mobilization in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Impact of Tax and Business Law Reforms," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(3), pages 1805-1810.
    12. Moore, Mick, 2013. "Obstacles to Increasing Tax Revenues in Low Income Countries," Working Papers 4666, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    13. Dwenger, Nadja & Steiner, Viktor, 2012. "Profit Taxation and the Elasticity of the Corporate Income Tax Base: Evidence From German Corporate Tax Return Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(1), pages 118-150, March.
    14. Papke, Leslie E & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M, 1996. "Econometric Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to 401(K) Plan Participation Rates," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(6), pages 619-632, Nov.-Dec..
    15. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Luisito Bertinelli & Arnaud Bourgain & Abdoul Karim Diamoutene, 2017. "Corporate Effective Tax Rate in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Formal Companies of Mali," DEM Discussion Paper Series 17-18, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    2. Marco Carreras & Purnachandar Dachapalli & Giulia Mascagni, 2017. "Effective corporate tax burden and firm size in South Africa: A firm-level analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series 162, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Marco Carreras & Chandu Dachapalli & Giulia Mascagni, 2017. "Effective corporate tax burden and firm size in South Africa: A firm-level analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-162, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Ostad, Parastoo & Mella, Javier, 2023. "The value relevance of corporate tax expenses in the presence of partisanship: International evidence," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    5. Elisabeth Bustos-Contell & Salvador Climent-Serrano & Gregorio Labatut-Serer, 2017. "Offshoring in the European Union: a Study of the Evolution of the Tax Burden," Contemporary Economics, Vizja University, vol. 11(2), June.
    6. Yu.E. Labunets & I.A. Mayburov, 2020. "Relationship of Tax Burden and Firm Size in the Timber Industry in Russia," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 19(4), pages 458-487.
    7. M. Shanmugam, 2020. "Research and Development Intensity and Effective Tax Rate: Empirical Evidence from India," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 6(2), pages 223-234, November.
    8. Yinka Mashood Salaudeen* & Rafiu Olayinka Akano, 2018. "Non-Linearity in Determinants of Corporate Effective Tax Rate: Further Evidence from Nigeria," International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 4(3), pages 56-63, 03-2018.
    9. Taylor, Grantley & Richardson, Grant, 2012. "International Corporate Tax Avoidance Practices: Evidence from Australian Firms," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 469-496.
    10. repec:ptu:bdpart:e202203 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Woon Leong Lin, 2021. "Giving too much and paying too little? The effect of corporate social responsibility on corporate lobbying efficacy: Evidence of tax aggressiveness," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 908-924, March.
    12. Emilio Depetris-Chauvin & Ömer Özak, 2020. "The origins of the division of labor in pre-industrial times," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 297-340, September.
    13. Baccini, Leonardo & Impullitti, Giammario & Malesky, Edmund J., 2019. "Globalization and state capitalism: Assessing Vietnam's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 75-92.
    14. Lazar Sebastian, 2015. "Tax Payments Determinants In Romania," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 749-756, July.
    15. Borice Augustin Ngounou & Honoré Tekam Oumbe & Bruno Emmanuel Ongo Nkoa & Edmond Noubissi Domguia, 2024. "Inclusive growth in the face of increasing urbanization: What experience for African countries?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 34-70, February.
    16. Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "Neighborhood violence, poverty, and psychological well-being," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    17. Elek, Péter & Lőrincz, László, 2015. "Az effektív társasági adókulcs rugalmassága Magyarországon a 2009-2011 közötti adókulcscsökkentés alapján [The elasticity of the effective corporate tax rate in Hungary: evidence from the tax cut b," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 27-47.
    18. Martina Rechbauer & Silke Rünger, 2024. "Measuring the impact of tax loss carryforwards on capital structure choice: the accuracy of earnings-based proxies," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1681-1708, June.
    19. van Criekingen, Kristof & Freel, Mark & Czarnitzki, Dirk, 2021. "Open innovation deficiency: Evidence on project abandonment and delay," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-006, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    20. Schuster, Monica & Maertens, Miet, 2013. "Do private standards create exclusive supply chains? New evidence from the Peruvian asparagus export sector," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 291-305.
    21. Grohmann, Antonia & Klühs, Theres & Menkhoff, Lukas, 2018. "Does financial literacy improve financial inclusion? Cross country evidence," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 111, pages 84-96.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:luc:wpaper:24-10. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Marina Legrand (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/crcrplu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.