Low level of domestic revenue is a key barrier to financing development in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the share of revenue to GDP can be as low
as less than 10 per cent (e.g. Chad, Niger, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo). The tax effort — measured as tax/GDP ratio—is 20
percentage point lower in Sub-Saharan Africa than the average for OECD countries. Although progress has been made over the last ten years
towards increasing total revenue, most African countries still lag well behind other countries with similar levels of development. This paper
examines the latest trends in Uganda’s tax revenues in the context of reforms that have taken place over the last 30 years or so. By comparing
Uganda’s taxation with that of other comparator countries in the region, the paper allows a more in-depth understanding of why it is the case
that some countries have much larger ratios of tax revenue to GDP than others or produce better outcomes for certain tax categories in general.