Improving property tax collection in India

Last registered on May 24, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Improving property tax collection in India
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011130
Initial registration date
May 18, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 24, 2023, 12:07 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
India
Region
Bihar

Primary Investigator

Name
Wendy Wong
Affiliation
University of Chicago
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Yusuf Neggers
PI Affiliation
University of Michigan
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PI Name
Shreya Singh
PI Affiliation
Brown University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2020-06-18
End date
2023-09-30
Keywords
Governance
Additional Keywords
Public finance
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Paying taxes typically involves a legally-required transfer of personal resources to the government to fund activities including the provision of public services. In developing countries, states often have limited capacity to collect taxes because tax authorities themselves are commonly under-funded and because the public may not be accustomed to paying taxes. In our study setting, we examine whether sending different types of messages to property owners from a property tax collection agency can improve the collection of tax revenue. The different messages provide information on the ease of the tax collection process, appeal to the public benefits of tax collection, and/or provide information on deadlines related to discounts and penalties applied to the tax assessment.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Neggers, Yusuf, Shreya Singh and Wendy Wong. 2023. "Improving property tax collection in India." AEA RCT Registry. May 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11130-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We partnered with the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) to study the impacts of different types of SMS messages on tax payment for the universe of properties in Patna for which taxes had yet to be paid by the start of the intervention. During the 2021-2022 fiscal year, we conducted two randomized messaging experiments in the days leading up to the end of the rebate period (June 30) - during which owners receive a 5% discount on tax payment and in the days leading up to the beginning of the penalty period (October 1) - during which a 1.5% interest per month is assessed on current taxes owed as a penalty.
Intervention Start Date
2020-06-19
Intervention End Date
2021-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Key outcomes: (i) whether any payment was made; (ii) total collection captured by payment amount in the current fiscal year; (iii) the inverse hyperbolic sine of total payment; (iv) the share of taxes owed that were paid; (v) length of time between message sending and payment.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conducted two messaging experiments within FY 2021-22 in the days leading up to the end of the rebate period and in the days leading up to the beginning of the penalty period. The messages provide information on the ease of the tax collection process, they appeal to the public benefits of tax collection, and they also provide information on deadlines related to discounts and penalties applied to the tax assessment.
Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual (property in the municipality records)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
132,340 properties in quarter 1; 82,503 properties in quarter 2
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Equal division of observations into each of the 5 treatment arms.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
See analysis plan.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Michigan
IRB Approval Date
2021-10-06
IRB Approval Number
HUM00203264
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
March 31, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
No
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials