revenue generation was much higher even after accounting for the higher payments made to the tax collectors.
An economist Ijaz Nabi said the experiment carried out on incentives provided to the tax collectors can be repeated in other services.
The taxes do matter, but more important is the way you use the resources generated for development and wellbeing of the people, he said.
Asim Khawaja of ICG said the experiment has shown that performance of bureaucracy could be improved by treating it well. In case of tax collection in Punjab, the same bureaucracy termed corrupt and incompetent has performed well when provided with incentives, he said.
Adnan Khan from IGC said Pakistan is mired in a difficult position, as when people do not get services they do not pay taxes and the state cannot provide services if it lacks resources to provide these services.
The low tax collection in Pakistan was mainly due to low motivation of the tax collectors that are only required to register their presence in the office, he added.
“There is no accountability or reward on performance,” he said, adding, this culture promotes lethargy.
A Punjab government official Shumail Khawaja said there have been complaints of excesses by the employees and pilferages in revenues at various levels.
Even the best tax reforms would not work when this culture is in vogue. The complaints by the taxpayers remained unaddressed and even the most dedicated employees lose the urge to perform.
An excise inspector Arif Raza said the incentive policy of higher pay for performance is the best. It has improved the performance of the tax collectors who have seen their quality of life improving from the additional income generated through honest efforts.
The IGC representative wondered as to why an employee would work when he is paid simply for showing up in the office. He said there has to be a system of accountability and reward.
Benjemin Olken from IGC said property tax collection in the United States is fully automated; however, the tax collectors document new residences and properties so that they could be incorporated in the system.
A low level employee of the Punjab government said collection of property tax from poor localities is very hard, as there is stiff resistance to documenting the premises.
He said the employees should be provided incentives on their performance in such difficult avenues.