The Politics of Taxation and Tax Reform in Times of Crisis: Covid-19 and Attitudes towards Taxation in Sierra Leone
基于塞拉利昂疫情前后近一年的调查数据，研究了疫情如何影响民众的税收态度，发现初期支持度上升但随时间减弱，对税改和财政收入有重要启示。
The pandemic has had significant fiscal implications around the world. A key question facing governments is how the pandemic has shaped taxpayer attitudes and what that means for the prospects for tax reform and new revenue raising. We aim to understand the impacts of the pandemic on attitudes toward taxation in Sierra Leone with novel survey data, collected before the pandemic, shortly after the pandemic’s onset, and for almost a year afterwards. Four key findings emerge. First, immediately after the crisis onset we see increased support for taxation in Freetown, despite escalating economic challenges. Second, at the same time that taxpayers show greater general support for taxation they become more likely to believe that one could refuse to pay taxes if government fails to deliver services in return. Third, while we lack baseline data on support for progressive taxation, we find rising and sustained support for it over the course of the pandemic. Finally, although we see an initial increase in willingness to pay more taxes for services, that support erodes over time. These findings have significant implications for understanding both immediate responses to the pandemic, and the broader politics of taxation and tax reform.