Digital Maturity of Tax Administrations and Fiscal Performance in Emerging Economies: A Conceptual Framework Based on the Moroccan Case

Abstract

This paper is theoretical and conceptual in nature: it develops an integrated framework for assessing the digital maturity of tax administrations in emerging economies, without empirical validation, and is intended to guide future empirical work. Building on a narrative review of the literature on digital transformation, information systems, public governance and tax compliance, the study identifies seven constitutive dimensions of digital maturity: technological infrastructure and systems integration, process digitalization and automation, data and analytics capability, governance and strategic alignment, cybersecurity and digital trust, organizational capabilities and human capital, and digital service quality and taxpayer experience. The proposed framework argues that these seven dimensions jointly shape fiscal performance through three mediating mechanisms: administrative efficiency, fiscal intelligence, and tax compliance. The Moroccan tax administration, documented through the General Tax Directorate's (DGI) own activity reports, is mobilized as an illustrative application of the framework within an emerging-economy setting. The paper's contribution lies in a tax-specific maturity model, formalized through seven research propositions, that integrates strands of the information-systems, public-administration and public-finance literatures. Each dimension is further formalized through a dedicated research proposition, and the framework is illustrated by a purpose-built causal diagram linking the seven dimensions, the three mediating mechanisms and fiscal performance. It outlines an agenda for future empirical validation, most notably the development and psychometric validation of a digital maturity measurement scale, to be tested through a comparative survey administered across several tax administrations in emerging economies, together with a discussion of the contextual variables likely to moderate the strength of these relationships.

JEL Classification: H26, H83, O33, O38, M15.

Paper type: Theoretical/Conceptual Research