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In a post-pandemic society, non-profit organisations (NPOs) have become vital. A safe environment for such organisations to function in is therefore important. In spite of efforts to safeguard this sector, rampant abuse exists. This paper aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the South African non-profit sector and its vulnerabilities to economic crime, specifically money laundering and terrorist financing.

Secondary sources such as legislation, case law, textbooks and peer-reviewed publications are used in identifying the vulnerabilities in the South African non-profit sector. Common denominators are identified from these sources to provide a basis for the highlighted vulnerabilities.

The South African non-profit sector is most vulnerable, leaving the sector susceptible to economic crimes. This is highlighted in the 2021 Financial Action Task Force Mutual Evaluation Report. Governance structures in the sector cannot protect it effectively and concomitant regulations have become inadequate. It is necessary for the South African Government and Parliament to review existing laws and regulations to ensure enhanced governance over these NPOs.

This paper contributes to a research gap on existing vulnerabilities within the South African non-profit sector relating to money laundering and terrorist financing. The paper provides a comprehensive layout of the South African non-profit sector, highlighting areas at risk of exploitation and identifying key vulnerabilities within the sector.

This study aims to compare recent topics on value-added tax (VAT) in the European Union (EU) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), understand the differences in VAT discourses between the two regions and explore the connection between research agendas, institutional legacies and semantic output in the field of VAT in each territory.

A bibliometric study was conducted using R programming. The data were gathered from the Scopus database, which contains 99 English-language publications with publication dates ranging from 1996 to 2022 (87 of which are from the EU and 12 from the GCC). Information about publications, journals, authors and citations is gathered, validated, cross-referenced and analyzed using bibliometric metrics.

The results highlight two ideal research contexts for studying VAT: the EU countries approach VAT research with a centralized, pluralistic and quantitative focus, while the GCC countries adopt a centralized, qualitative and practically oriented approach, highlighting distinct research goals, collaboration styles and institutional legacies. The authors extend their result findings to broader discussions on competing knowledge systems in VAT, the significance of the state and the level of autonomy within tax governance after identifying the most popular issues among scholars working in GCC and EU countries.

Although the focus of this analysis is restricted to the GCC and EU, it includes theoretical recommendations for broadening its application to other nations. Researchers from the GCC and the EU may benefit from this study by gaining more about VAT and being encouraged to share their research with young researchers. The study’s findings are relevant and important for comprehending the comparative state of research on VAT in GCC and EU countries, tax fields, publications and institutions.

This study analyzes the VAT systems of the GCC and the EU while identifying the intellectual structure of the field from each author’s point of view, revealing the scientometrics and informetrics intellectual structures in detail.

Despite the unique features and potential applications in various industries, widespread blockchain adoption is hindered for several reasons. One of them is the lack of government regulations regarding blockchain and cryptocurrencies. However, a deliberate preliminary analysis of the policy initiatives by various jurisdictions proved otherwise, and a lack of sound academic literature on the policy initiatives on blockchain worldwide was evident. Addressing this gap, this study aims to summarize the policy initiatives of jurisdictions around the world, assessing if governments do not enact many regulations.

A systematic literature review was adopted in this study, in which the authors shortlisted a set of research papers and policy reports using several selection criteria and a screening process.

It was found that numerous policy initiatives have been enacted by governments worldwide, and blockchain applications are also being piloted or practiced successfully in several nations. It was also evident that governments are reluctant to accept cryptocurrencies as legal tender while embracing their underlying technology, blockchain.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper appears to be one of the first attempts to summarize the blockchain policy initiatives contributing to the body of knowledge on blockchain adoption.

This study aims to determine how taxes can be used to bridge income inequality gap in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

A panel data set of 36 SSA countries was analysed using generalised method of moments.

The results suggest that an increase in direct taxes relative to indirect taxes has a positive significant impact on income inequality. This is mostly due to the progressive nature of direct taxes as compared to indirect taxes.

This research contributes to the scant literature on how specific tax components affect income inequality, especially in developing countries.

This paper aims to identify the competency domains to be included in a conceptual framework for tax literacy.

Using a qualitative approach, this study expands on the current understanding of the competency areas of tax literacy. A dual-purpose literature review was, therefore, conducted. The literature review first provided the body of knowledge that underpinned the study and second, the key data concepts for the draft competency structure to determine whether there is consensus on an international (supra) level. The literature review was supported by an interactive qualitative analysis to further present the concept of tax literacy from the perspectives of various national stakeholders in an emerging economy. Accounting and public finance educators from a higher education institution, as well as financial advisers as representatives of a profession with a direct interest in tax-related matters, were considered.

Although a discipline lens seems to strongly influence the previous authors’ view of what tax literacy means, it was possible to identify certain tax literacy competency domains that should be included in a taxpayer education curriculum. These content domains consist first of a knowledge domain which includes disciplinary, interdisciplinary, epistemic and procedural knowledge components. Second, the skills domain should include components of cognitive and meta-cognitive, social and emotional, as well as physical and practice skills. Third, personal and societal attitudes and values represent the third domain. Fourth, transformative competencies such as value creation, taking responsibility and reconciliation attributes are important. Finally, core foundational competencies, such as numeracy and literacy should be in place.

The draft conceptual framework for tax literacy could serve as the foundation for the further development of a tax literacy measurement instrument, as well as tax education courses.

A more holistic conceptual framework for tax literacy, portraying the multidimensional nature of taxation, is presented in contrast to the limited one-dimensional position presented up to now.

This study aims to examine the illicit capital movement through trade misinvoicing in Burundi, at disaggregated levels by major trading partners and by major export and import commodities.

Trade misinvoicing is estimated by comparing the trade values declared by Burundi with those declared by trading partners in a bilateral international transaction, after adjusting for the cost of freight and insurance. Disaggregated trade misinvoicing by major trading partners is computed using the Direction of Trade Statistics database of the International Monetary Fund over the period 1970–2019. Disaggregated trade misinvoicing by major trading commodities is computed using the UN-COMTRADE database over the period 1993–2019.

Exports of Burundi to most of its major trading partners are found to be underinvoiced. The top destinations for export underinvoicing are United Arab Emirates, Belgium and Germany. However, exports to UK and Switzerland are found to be overinvoiced. The major export commodities considered, coffee and gold, are found to be affected by trade misinvoicing to a great extent. On the import side, the estimation results indicate that imports of Burundi from its major trading partners are in general overinvoiced. High import overinvoicing is observed in the trade with Saudi Arabia, China and Japan. At commodity level, for the top 6 commodities considered, imports were to a great extent found to be overinvoiced. Cases of illicit capital outflows and inflows through trade misinvoicing are highlighted.

Some policy implications are drawn from this study. First, in collaboration with its development partners, the Government of Burundi should put in place measures to reduce the trade misinvoicing phenomenon, which undermines poverty reduction efforts. The study has shown which trade partners are involved and which commodities are mostly affected. Policy efforts could then be focused in that regard. Investigations at the company and transaction levels can be made to identify the mechanisms of trade misinvoicing. Second, more effort is needed in ensuring systematic and transparent reporting of international trade transactions. To fight trade misinvoicing, transparency in international trade is key, through coordinated enforcement of reporting rules.

Previous studies analyzed the problem of trade misinvoicing at an aggregated level. However, this leaves out essential information on trading partners involved in the phenomenon as well as trading commodities affected. This study investigates trade misinvoicing at disaggregated levels, at product level and by trading partner.

The UK government has elaborated the effect of late payment on the economy, with its impact on the construction sector being particularly pronounced. This paper aims to evaluate the late payment epidemic that persists within the construction industry, specifically analysing the effectiveness of government-led voluntary payment initiatives.

A mixed philosophical lens is adopted that incorporates both pragmatism and post-positivism to examine the late payment phenomena. Couched within deductive reasoning and a case study strategy, a questionnaire survey was conducted to elicit responses from one-hundred construction professionals. Elucidating upon respondents’ perceptions of the UK’s late payment epidemic, a comparative analysis was undertaken of upstream (main contractor) and downstream (subcontractors/suppliers) contractors through Cronbach’s alpha, descriptive statistics, independence chi-square test, Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U test.

Emergent findings reveal that in practice, the monitoring and enforcement of government-led voluntary payment initiatives has been unprosperous with numerous contractors being forced to adopt indefensibly poor and punitive payment practices. Survey responses and extant literature substantiate and underscore the industry’s need to strengthen voluntary government-led payment initiatives. To create a responsible payment culture, any future code created should be mandatory and enforceable as a self-regulating approach has failed dismally. The work concludes with practical additional measures that could be introduced to create a responsible payment culture and promote ethical trading within the UK construction industry.

This paper constitutes a novel vignette of, and reflection upon, contemporary practice in this area of construction finance and serves to emphasise that very little has changes in the sector despite numerous UK government led reports and interventions.