E f f e c t i v e a n d a c c o u n t a b l e s e r v i c e d e l i v e r y Revenue maximisation Allegations and suspicions of corruption among politicians or public officials in the global south have long been linked to underperforming tax collection systems. There may be locally relevant collection issues with poor or inadequately resourced enforcement mechanisms, but increasing tax revenues need not always be a costly exercise in itself. An initiative of the revenue service in the UK involved writing to those who owe tax and making reference to the payment rate in their region or locality. It drew on the motivation felt by many of us to belong, to fit in with our peers, and resulted in an increased rate of compliance with tax demands. This regional experiment has now been rolled out across the UK. There has been a growing sense of discomfort and anger among the public at the ability of those who are well advised to avoid paying their taxes, whether they are individuals or companies. In many developing countries there is disquiet about the ways in which both local and international taxpayers are not always required to meet their tax obligations. Failure of adequate revenue collection has been argued to have considerable financial and human costs: • It has been estimated that lost tax revenue collection could amount to US$385 billion each year • ‘Illegal, trade-related tax evasion alone will be responsible for some 5.6 million deaths of young children in the developing world between 2000 and 2015. That is almost 1,000 a day’, predicted Christian Aid Attention has been drawn to tax havens, territories with low tax obligations, where private and corporate money can be placed, thus avoiding obligations to pay tax in other jurisdictions where business activities take place. There has been a shift (but not a loss) in focus from corruption in developing countries to complicity in tax avoidance in the wealthy West and the complicity of governments there for lost revenues. If collected, they could bolster development efforts. The UK has been highlighted in this pattern, with Oxfam estimating that over one third of the $18.47 trillion Figure 1: How taxes are spent in the UK (£bn) Health 122 Streets 5.8 Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2013/14 72 The environment 5 Welfare and social security 179.5 Running the country, social systems 29.6 Education 32 Order and safety 16.3 Defence 35.3 Culture 7.8 Running government 68 Overseas economic aid 6.3 £502bn total Source: http://wheredoesmymoneygo.org/bubbletree-map.html#/~/total
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