The use of tax stamps in most countries has over time come to be restricted to a
control measure to keep purveyors of excisable goods honest. This has greatly
limited the true potential of this technical platform. There is no real reason why tax
stamps couldn’t be used more broadly to enrich the relationship between tax
authorities and their clients in industry.
The narrow prism of viewing tax stamps as a pure anti-evasion enforcement tool has
led to growing apathy on the part of industry and civil society about their utility and
effectiveness. This has led to a situation where the wider deployment of tax stamps
for revenue protection purposes has become highly constrained by industry
concerns about the cost of adjustment. There is no denying the fact that tax stamps
in their traditional form do not sufficiently reward stakeholders for the additional
hassle they impose. It is not surprising then that tax stamps are some of the most
widely faked and counterfeited items worldwide; it has precious few defenders
outside the corridors of government agencies.
It has become apparent for some time now that unless value-enhancing innovations
are introduced into the deployment of tax stamps by departing from some of the
traditional approaches, and by introducing multiple value propositions concurrently,
this apathy on the part of industry and the consuming public, not to talk of civil
society, shall continue.
Furthermore, the experience in many countries has been that tax stamps vendors
rarely generate any fresh intellectual property (IP) in their collaboration with key
stakeholders, making the entire process stagnant and incapable of keeping up with
the fast-changing digital-infused landscape of today’s marketplace.
The poor institutional assimilation of the infrastructure of tax stamp management
within government agencies also slow down the updating of tax stamps systems to
respond to evolving threats.
These are the factors that have spurred the creation of TaxStamps+, a platform
gracefully integrated together from powerful components that have served cutting-
edge and mission-critical purposes in industry-government collaborations and
regulatory transformation contexts around the world.
The “plus” in the brand name is very deliberate. TaxStamps+ present multiple
benefits, far beyond just one-sided revenue assurance, to all stakeholders.
Among others, it enables:
The expansion of the range of products coverable by tax stamps in
order to deepen the scope of revenue mobilisation. The highly narrow
utility of tax stamps worldwide has led to them being restricted to
tobacco and alcohol in most jurisdictions.
Ensure co-development with key stakeholders and collaborators,
thereby deepening the possibilities of local innovation to avoid
stagnation in the face of novel and evolving threats.
Considerably reduce the costs of adjustment to industry through highly
innovative infrastructure engineering and integration techniques.
Strengthen institutional ownership in the design and roll-out of tax
stamp systems.
Maximise the direct value of tax stamps assimilation to partners in
industry.
Incorporate consumer interests and concerns into the “last mile
interface” of the tax stamps deployment approach.
Interweave all the above into a consolidated strategy that renders tax
stamps counterfeiting and evasion completely redundant and/or futile.
It should be evident from the above that TaxStamps+ is the future of global fiscal
assurance.
Our licensing policy enables and encourages the localisation of the platform, through
the turnkey modules, in a manner that strengthens local collaboration. We welcome
partnerships with local networks and civic entrepreneurs that can champion this
forward-looking model of tax stamps deployment and secure the necessary
arrangements on the ground with key stakeholders in government, industry and civil
society.
