African Nations’ High VAT Rates Biased Against Women, Study Says

High value-added tax rates are implicitly biased against women, both as consumers and entrepreneurs, in countries in the African Tax Administration Forum, a new study finds.

The new ATAF Women in Tax Network desk study, the first of its kind, looked at a stratified sample of 16 countries from across Africa. It recommended that countries reduce their reliance on VAT for so much of their tax revenue—the average share in ATAF member countries is 31%, while the OECD average is 20.4%, according to the study.

• The majority of African businesses are micro, small and medium enterprises that don’t ...