Property Taxation under Fiscal Decentralisation in Malawi: What Are the Available Institutional and Governance Arrangements?

Abstract

The paper investigates institutional and governance arrangements that fiscal decentralisation provides for property taxation. Research for the paper was based on a case study of Lilongwe City Council in Malawi and data were collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with senior officials from central government, Lilongwe City Council and other stakeholders in the implementation of fiscal decentralisation and property taxation in Malawi. Fiscal decentralisation in Malawi provides the following institutional and governance arrangements for property taxation: autonomy for the taxing authority; constitutional oversight bodies; dispute handling mechanisms; local representation; collaborative arrangements; and performance reporting. The paper concludes that fiscal decentralisation that has been implemented in Malawi has institutional and governance arrangements that would create smooth administration of property tax. The limitation with the paper is that it is based on one case study of a local government area designated to levy property taxes.

Key words: Fiscal decentralisation, Governance, Institutional arrangements, Property taxation