Overview

Taxation is essential for sustainable economic development, and tax administration is a basic function of a successful state. Taxation also helps make a government accountable to its citizens. When governments spend taxpayers’ money, they are more accountable to make budget decisions transparent and accessible. By 2012, 76 of the economies measured by Doing Business had implemented electronic tax filing and payment systems.

This case study examines Malaysia’s experience with modernizing manual tax filing and payment and moving to a paperless online system. Malaysia shows the opportunities that technology can provide to taxpayers and governments—as well as the challenges that may emerge during the transition.