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The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the vulnerability of lower income groups, exposed the inadequacy of social protection systems, and severely decreased state revenues. In the wake of the pandemic, low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) face the dual challenge of increasing domestic resources, while also closing social protection coverage gaps. Both challenges have been closely associated with the large informal economies in many LMICs. While debates about taxation and social protection in relation to the informal economy are widespread, there is little empirical evidence to support them. Using new and representative data on informal workers in Accra, Ghana, this paper contributes novel evidence on the extent to which informal workers in Accra have access to social protection and benefitted from COVID-19 relief programmes. The paper further explores the tax burdens of informal workers in Accra, as well the degree to which they might be able to make additional contributions through taxes or contributions to social protection schemes. It investigates the equity, redistributive, and gendered impacts of informal workers’ fiscal burdens and access to social protection and COVID-19 relief programmes. Three key findings emerge. First, most informal sector operators in Accra are not covered by social protection, with the exception of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Furthermore, receipt of COVID-19 relief in the informal sector was very low. Second, in contrast to a number of claims, the paper finds that informal sector operators in Accra do pay a range of taxes, permits, levies and fees. Especially for informal sector …