Digital taxes as they are being introduced across Afrika will force consumers to find creative ways to bypass them such as using a VPN service or in the case of e-commerce, using a forwarding address.
I partly sympathize with Afrikan policymakers. Especially when it comes to OTT (Over The Top) platforms such as the popular social media platforms and instant messaging apps.
My sympathy is related to the fact that, as governments, they (ideally speaking) create the environment in which businesses can operate and hopefully thrive. Creating such an environment requires deploying capital (tax revenue) towards building infrastructure (e.g. telecommunications) and deploying people to regulate such an environment.
This is for premium members only.
Become a premium member and get access to the full library.