The hidden unfairness in your tax system and how to fix it Pierre BachasChristopher HoyAnders JensenMahvish Shaukat July 02, 2026 This page in: English

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/developmenttalk/the-hidden-unfairness-in-your-tax-system-and-how-to-fix-it In many developing countries, two people can earn the same income and pay very different amounts of tax — not because of different rates, but because of how they earn their money. If one is a salaried employee and the other is self-employed, the employee is likely to pay far more. Our new research suggests that such inequality within the same income group is not only widespread, but it is undermining the political viability of tax reform, because the self-employed can more easily underreport income for tax purposes and salaried workers are unlikely to accept being taxed more.