How governments collect money and account for it
Treasury single accounts, payment gateways, control numbers, collection agents, fees and reconciliation, explained from laws, official records and audit reports.
- Payer
- Bill or control number
- Bank, agent or app
- Collection account
- Treasury single account
- Reconciliation
How collection works
- Bank collection agents for government revenue
How commercial banks collect taxes and fees for governments, how fast they must pass the money on, how they are paid and what audits check.
- Control numbers and payment references
How control numbers and payment registration numbers link a government bill to a payment, with Tanzania GePG and Uganda URA rules and audit findings.
- Fees and commissions on government collections
How banks and payment providers are paid for collecting government revenue: float versus per-transaction fees, India's published rates and payer costs.
- How government payment gateways work
What a government payment gateway does, who connects to it, which channels it accepts, national examples and what auditors found about integration.
- Mobile money for government payments
How mobile money is used to pay taxes and fees, how it links to government gateways, refund rules, country figures and audit findings.
- Payment aggregators in government collection
What a payment aggregator is, how regulators license aggregators, how they hold and settle funds and how they link to government gateways.
- What is a treasury single account?
How the IMF defines a treasury single account, how collections reach it, the account models countries use and how PEFA scores cash consolidation.
Country systems
- Ghana: Ghana.gov, GhIPSS and Ghana Revenue Authority collection
How Ghana Revenue Authority taxes are paid through Ghana.gov, banks and mobile money, what GhIPSS is, and what the Auditor-General found.
- India: PFMS, the Non-Tax Receipt Portal and the Treasury Single Account
How India's Union Government collects and accounts for receipts through PFMS and Bharatkosh, how the TSA works with the RBI, and what the CAG found.
- Kenya: eCitizen collections and the Treasury Single Account
How Kenya's eCitizen platform collects government fees, the Treasury Single Account rule in the PFM Act, and the 2025 special audit findings and responses.
- Nigeria: the Treasury Single Account and Remita e-collection
How Nigeria's federal Treasury Single Account works, the role of the CBN and Remita, the fee dispute, and what parliament and the Auditor-General found.
- Rwanda: the Irembo government services and payments platform
How Rwanda's Irembo platform works: the 2015 concession, who runs it, how citizens pay, fees, how money reaches the revenue authority, and audit findings.
- South Sudan: the revenue authority's e-Tax collection system
How South Sudan's revenue authority collects taxes and fees through the e-Tax platform, the 2026 cash ban, the legal basis, and audit and IMF findings.
- Tanzania: the Government Electronic Payment Gateway (GePG)
How Tanzania's GePG works: who runs it, the 2017 legal mandate, how payers use a control number, and what the Controller and Auditor General found.
- Uganda: URA payment registration numbers and the e-Tax portal
How Uganda's PRN system works for taxes and non-tax revenue on the URA portal, how banks and mobile money take payment, the law and audit findings.
- Zambia: the Government Service Bus, ZamPortal and payment gateway
How Zambia collects fees through the Government Service Bus, ZamPortal and ZamPay: who runs them, payment channels, collections and audit findings.
Controls and audits
- IMF, World Bank and PEFA guidance on collection
The main IMF, World Bank and PEFA documents on treasury single accounts, bank collection, transfer timing and reconciliation, with what each says.
- Reconciliation of government revenue
How governments match bills, bank payments and treasury records, the PEFA timing standards for reconciliation and what audit offices found.
- Revenue leakage: what audit offices have found
Findings by audit offices in Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Zambia on revenue collected outside systems, not transferred or not remitted.