EVALUATION DE L’ECART DE TVA AU TOGO

The mobilization of tax revenue continues to be a major challenge in Togo and the composition of this revenue reveals that the Value Added Tax (VAT) is its essential driver. However, there is a lack of targeted research or studies on the VAT gap. This paper evaluates and analyzes the difference between the VAT total tax liability and the amount of VAT actually collected through a top-down approach by distinguishing policy gap and compliance gap and identifying the sectors and branches of activity concerned. The results indicate that the VAT gap in Togo remains relatively large, although it has significantly improved in recent years to reach 45.9% of the amount of potential revenue (8.3% of GDP) in 2015, after 63.2% (11.4% of GDP) in 2007. Moreover, there is flexibility to improve VAT revenue through a more targeted tax administration for some branches, namely the products of extraction, wood, publishing and printing products, construction work, accommodation and food services, real estate and business services, and repair services.