It is clear from the above analysis that the local government tax system in
Tanzania is overripe for reform. The current local tax system is partly a result of
poor administrative capacity for tax collection and tax design, as well as political
pressure and lack of co-ordination between the local and central government.
Thus, redesigning the tax structure and building local administrative capacity for
collection may reduce revenue losses caused by inefficiency and corruption.
However, tax resistance is likely to continue (and increase) if service provision
does not improve, necessitating costly and coercive methods of tax enforcement
further undermining the legitimacy of the government. Improvement in service
delivery - a key objective of public sector reforms in Tanzania - is therefore a
necessary condition to improve tax compliance.
In this setting, the fundamental issues to be addressed in the context of local
government fiscal reforms are:
(1) to redesign the current revenue structure; and
(2) to enhance tax compliance through improved service delivery.