Do Taxpayers Get What They Pay For? Public Service Hassles and Tax Attitudes in Bangladesh

Overview

This research examines the relationship between individual income taxpayers' experiences within Bangladesh's tax administration and public service delivery sectors, and their resulting attitudes toward taxation. The study operates from the premise that taxpayer satisfaction is contingent upon perceived alignment between tax contributions and the quality and accessibility of public services received in return. The investigation spans interactions with tax offices alongside service provision in health, education, and transport sectors.

Methods and approach

The study employs a cross-sectional survey design covering approximately 180 individual income taxpayers in Bangladesh. Data collection documents respondents' socio-economic profiles and catalogs specific encounters with tax administration and public service delivery. Analysis relies on descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation procedures to characterize patterns in taxpayer experiences, service quality perceptions, and satisfaction metrics across institutional contexts.

Results

The sample comprises predominantly regular taxpayers with dependents enrolled in educational institutions. Respondents report systematic operational deficiencies in tax administration including discourteous conduct by tax personnel, solicitation of informal payments, and procedurally time-intensive interactions. Public health and education services are perceived as constrained by overcrowding, inadequate management infrastructure, and substandard output quality. Private sector service dissatisfaction centers on cost burdens and excessive commercialization. Aggregated findings indicate a substantial perception gap between tax obligations borne by individuals and the quality and responsiveness of services accessed through public institutions.

Implications

The documented disconnect between tax compliance and service outcomes suggests that institutional performance in tax administration and core public service delivery may function as material constraints on voluntary compliance and legitimacy of the fiscal system. Tax office conduct—particularly procedural efficiency and staff comportment—appears operationally relevant to taxpayer attitudes alongside direct service quality indicators. The findings indicate that tax administration reform and service delivery improvement represent interconnected policy domains with implications for revenue collection sustainability.