Afrika’s obligation to fight for a gendered and youthful perspective in global digitalised tax restructuring

This paper considered the historical perspective of women and taxation, as well their economic status in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Afrika, and South Africa as a special focus. The case was made that women are globally worse off economically than their male counterparts; but that Afrikan women specifically come off the worst. Women also suffer fiscal discrimination, yet they bear unique tax burdens like Pink Tax, Afrikan (Black) Tax for women in Afrika, individualised Pay as You Earn which ultimately discriminates against women-headed households, and women breadwinners. Even at the periphery of the economy, they shoulder value-added tax (VAT) the same as men. Given the forecasted Afrikan population growth, Afrikan women remain an untapped resource for the digital economy. Yet gender representation and equity in the current efforts for global tax governance restructuring are lacking. Hence there exists a need for the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) to champion a gendered and youthful perspective in digital tax transformation, and pioneer tax disaggregation by categorising women according to socio-economic profiles.