This week, there was the announcement by the tax czar, Mr Clive Nicholas, that simple, high-volume, low-value tax-related transactions, such as the payment of property taxes and traffic fines, will soon done at bill collection companies. It is a system already being used by many private sector companies, allowing them to outsource some parts of their businesses, allowing them to concentrate on their core operations. More importantly, such moves allow firms to cut costs and drive efficiency. Which means driving share-holder value.
But often, the real value of bill-payment outsourcing is not easily quantifiable, for it is not that easy to measure the value of customer satisfaction. Sometimes, for the consumer, it is just having a bill-payment facility in a convenient location, saving the trip, in difficult traffic, to a firm's office to make a payment.
And we all know of the frustration and the valuable time lost, which is certainly the case of the tax collectorates, in the interminable wait in long lines.
If this move leads to a seamless, real-time application of people's payments to their specific obligations, it will be well worth it and add to the efficiency of tax collection. Mr Nicholas may even find that there is greater compliance.
Perhaps the administration may also consider widening the range of tax transactions that can be conducted through off-site payments.
This project also has other implications which are worth noting. It is, in a sense, the expansion of the process of e-government.
That the Tax Administration can outsource some of the collection activities is because private firms have invested in the appropriate technology - both in hardware and software - which allows them to integrate their systems with those of their back-end customers.
It is likely to be cheaper, with this process, for the Government to pay the collection company a few cents on the dollar for its services, saving the cost of its own investment in, and maintenance of a major collection system.
It need not apply only to tax payments. It seems to us that other areas of government might benefit from partnerships with private enterprise in technology-driven service delivery.
Indeed, there are some government agencies which already provide some level of technology-based service delivery, such as the Customs Department where some documents can be filed via an electronic process.
We believe that this can be widened substantially and should be aggressively pursued. We know that Mr Paulwell and his technology ministry have, in the past, spoken of this and have driven some aspects of implementation, but the project appears to have run out of steam.
It should be given a new lease on life.
Quelle: Jamaica Observer, 06.05.2004
