WIEGO-ICTD-ISSER Tax and Informality in Accra_2022

The data contains information from 2700 self-employed informal sector operators in Accra, Ghana. Based on a two-stage cluster sampling approach t enumeration areas (EAs) were stratified by household income using data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). Nex 135 EAs out of a total of 536 were selected randomly to undertake a listing exercise which generated a master list of all households in each EA. This formed the sampling frame from which households were selected for inclusion in the survey. In each selected EA, 20 households were selected to be surveyed. Selected households were asked whether a household member operated any kind of small income generating business activity by themselves or with one or more partners, which household members were involved in any self-employment activity/business, and whether the household member was the main owner (or main worker if the business was shared with another person). Following the listing exercise, which captured 3169 individuals, enumerators interviewed the owners or operators of the identified business activities. The first question in the survey asked the respondent whether the business activity was registered with the Registrar General’s Department—a requirement to be considered a formal enterprise in Ghana— to enable the survey sample to capture only the owners or operators of small, unregistered business activities. This mirrors the measurement of the informal sector in Ghana used both by the Ghana Statistical Service and the ILO.
The survey instrument captured information on business operators, the characteristics of business activities, taxation, access to social protection and public goods, and perceptions of the government and the tax system. Fieldwork was conducted in April and May 2022.