Making People Pay - A Book Review

It is ironic that I should be reviewing a book of Taxation, considering that I shut down my consultancy merely because I was putting in more effort in computing and paying various taxes than I had to put in to earn the money. I have always considered it funny that this is one area where you need to put in a lot of learning and effort as well as seek expert advice in order to pay out money when, in any other realm of Society, the one who puts in the effort gets paid!

The author - Dr. Sibichen Mathew - is an IRS officer with a stellar academic background in Sociology, Public Policy and taxation. This book amply reflects his deep knowledge of his varied academic interests.

Dr. Mathew’s book “Making People Pay” aims to identify the reasons for tax evasion – specifically Income tax – and the means by which people can be enthused to be tax-compliant. In the process, he gives a glimpse of the global and Indian history of taxation peppered with various interesting anecdotes; the rationale and purpose for taxation – including the ones that, in the past, caused taxes to be labelled immoral at times and the reasons for lack of tax compliance. He also suggests the means whereby tax compliance may be improved and identifies some of the challenges posed by globalization to the taxation arms of governments.

What is specifically interesting in the book is the detailing of the genesis of tax evasion. The author does not rest merely with assuming evasion to be an outcome of a lack of integrity. He has applied his mind and effort on the various economic, sociological, psychological and procedural aspects that could lead to tax-evasive behavior and attempted an exhaustive set of studies to identify the causal factors.

The book is an outcome of studies conducted by the author and the details of the studies and conclusions are outlined in Chapters 6 and 7. All the preceding chapters can be understood by the lay reader – and the easy narrative style and interesting anecdotes will keep the reader interested. The chapters related to the study, however, do read like a report and, though they contain interesting insights into the mind of the tax-payer, they may prove to be a ..err..taxing read! If I may suggest something to the author it would be to re-write these chapters – the insights derived from the studies - in the same easy narrative style of the others and leave the details of the study to appendices.

Even with that minor glitch, the book is still not too taxing a read overall and gives insights into both the functioning of the Income Tax department and the causal factors of tax non-compliance. Anyone who is interested in the functioning of the world we live in will certainly find benefit in the book.

Details of the book can be seen here

(Disclaimer: The author, Dr. Sibichen Mathew, is a fellow-blogger and a friend)