Effectiveness of the publicity campaign on value added tax in India

Starting from 1 April 2005, all the states and union territories of India have gradually introduced a VAT system. Such a major reform of the tax system requires an orchestrated and well-organized publicity campaign aimed at educating the stakeholders of the VAT system about the new tax. In this article, the author examines the reach and effectiveness of a nationwide VAT publicity campaign carried out by the government, and explores the stakeholders' perception of the new tax, on the basis of the results of a survey conducted in the metropolitan city of Chennai.