On an Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic: Is the Performance of Tax Collections Affected?

Abstract

The study assessed the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on performance of tax collections in Tanzania. The study consisted of three predicting variables, namely corporate income tax, value added tax and excise duty that were tested on government revenue collections as the dependent variable. Our study employed explanatory design whereas causal relationship approach was used to foster information generation process. The study was conducted in Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) under Large Taxpayers Department (LTD) where secondary data were used covering the period of 24 months. Based on the hypotheses testing the study found that corporate income tax and value added tax have a statistically positive influence on performance of tax collections and excise duty have a statistically negative influence on performance of tax collections at 5% significant level. The study findings provide insights from a practical point of view on the government revenue process in developing countries like Tanzania, thus filling the gap in the literature review. The study findings serve as guidance to regulators and policymakers on what set of factors to review and incorporate into policy in order to foster collections of government revenue in Tanzania.