1 TAX CHARTERS, PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND THE CASE FOR A MORE STRATEGIC APPROACH TO TAX ADMINISTRATION

Reform of tax administration has not always been an unmitigated success. One way of improving the chances of success might be to take a more strategic approach to reform as has already been suggested in the case of tax simplification (James and Wallschutzky, 1997) and tax compliance (James, forthcoming). In this paper such an approach is continued by examining a natural experiment in which the development of tax charters was undertaken following a more strategic approach in Australia than it was in the UK. To date at least, the former approach appears to have been the more successful. However, a very important aspect of a strategic approach is monitoring and review of progress. The paper therefore goes on to examine the use of performance indicators. It begins with a very brief account of the theory of performance indicators, the development of their use in the private sector, in other parts of the public sector and then specifically their use in tax administration. The paper then outlines a case study of performance indicators in the Excise Ta