Corruption and taxation: Lessons from the Indian experience

This paper examines the results of a series of steps taken by the Customs and Excise Department, Government of India, to reduce corruption and prevent leakages of revenue in customs and excise tax collection and administration. We examine the effectiveness of reward programs and a series of liberalization measures attempted by the department for these purposes. Our study suggests that in the absence of a proper framework for rewards administration, incentive plans do not succeed. On the contrary, the Indian experience suggests that liberalization and simplification of laws and procedures coupled with proper control mechanisms such as professionalized audits work better to reduce corruption and enhance revenue collection.