Hidden negative social effects of poor e-government services design
EGOV'06 Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Electronic Government
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
A vast development of Internet services in Latin America contrasts in terms of access and affordability of ICTs for its population. When considering e-tax systems, things are slightly different: A generous array of ICT techniques and tools are available for the people. Web services, mobile information services, electronic IDs, member electronic cards, online bank account transfers and the like configure the so called "holistic" approach for tax collection in Latin America. These advanced tools make things that where hitherto impossible, now possible - better interaction with citizens, lower transaction costs, more transparent processes, egalitarian treatment, and an improved democracy in emerging economies. This imposes a huge challenge for public organizations and their officials, particularly when simple and low-cost tools are made available to organize tax collection issues, which was unthinkable before. This challenging duty was picked up in some countries. A new paradigm emerges from the Chilean and Argentinean experiences, both countries with a young democracy and high levels of professionalism in tax services. For instance, Chile has established a tuned up system of electronic tax return filing and tax payments. On the other hand, the Province of Buenos Aires in Argentina has developed web 2.0 services for corporate tax payers. This paper proposes a comparative exercise between both experiences in order to depict an e-tax system benchmark for other countries in the same need. The comparison includes tax return filling systems, information campaigns to increase awareness and usage of electronic tax products and services. The specific strategies in these two countries are depicted in order to replicate or transform them in other countries of similar situation, so as to assure higher rates of take-up of e-tax systems. Revenue organizations that are at an early stage in their development of electronic services may benefit from the examination of these approaches and experiences. There are many "good practice" conclusions that can be drawn from a South American e-tax benchmark as many countries lag behind their level of development.