Recently there has been a blurring of the lines between public goods and private goods with the private sector stepping in to finance public goods and the public sector providing goods that can be classified as rival and excludable. But how can the government reorient its policies to take advantage of this? Take the case of the free Wifi hotspots set up by Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) at various public places such as hospitals, universities, railway stations, etc. These Wifi hotspots provide free connectivity to the citizens of Punjab at selected public locations. Instead of providing free internet connectivity to all citizens, this service can be provided exclusively to taxpayers only by asking users to enter their National Taxpayer Number (NTN) as the password for this service. This can also be linked to the Punjab Safe City Project portal whereby only taxpayers are allowed to log in to their portal and receive traffic and weather updates as well as other exclusive information that improves their road experience.
This calls for a paradigm shift so that taxpayers become the new VIPs of society receiving special treatment at airports, railway stations, Nadra offices as well as other public offices. Citizens can be issued National Taxpayers Card which they can swipe/enter NTN to receive priority in online seats reservation especially on Eid holidays and other festive occasions when citizens are scrambling to get their seats reserved. Special queues and terminals for taxpayers when boarding airplanes, trains, etc, can be made to bring about a cultural change whereby the taxpayers receive elite treatment and those in the other queue are looked down upon. This cultural change would encourage individuals who are not in the tax net to become taxpayers.
In order to account for citizens who pay only nominal taxes but not the amount due towards them, the National Taxpayers Card may be segmented into a Silver, Gold and Platinum category whereby the kind of privileges they avail go up with the kind of card they are holding. Just like a Silver, Gold, Platinum credit card is taken as a symbol of status, a new cultural change needs to be brought about whereby citizens in possession of these categories of National Taxpayers Cards are treated as the new VIPs.
Private companies or brands also need to be encouraged to enter the bandwagon of bringing about the cultural change of making taxpayers the new VIPs of our society by providing special discounts at their outlets to holders of Silver, Gold, Platinum Taxpayers Cards as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. The companies most enthusiastic about these initiatives of the government can be rewarded by the government at the end of the year through interest free loans, etc. This sharing of responsibility in bringing about cultural change in society would become the new emblem of Public Private Partnership. These discounts can be extended to grocery bills at Utility Stores, and Canteen Store Departments (CSDs) etc, so that indirect taxation is replaced with direct taxation and the burden of taxation does not fall on the less fortunate segment of the society.
(The writer is an Assistant Research Fellow at Punjab Economic Research Institute, Lahore)
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