Digital Property Tax Payment - Bratislava
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Property Tax affects over 210 000 residents, home owners, in Bratislava. It is the second largest income for the city. Paper-based process is cumbersome, ineffective and frustrating. It starts with submitting complicated tax returns that are processed manually and then each year the tax bills are generated manually, signed by hand and sent via post office over a one month period. Only 14 000 of our taxpayers have activated national eID and receive their bill electronically.
Digital Property Tax Payment was the first digital service that we have decided to tackle 3 years ago with the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies and FutureGov. Before launch, we have spent 9 months mapping issues for residents as well as our colleagues. We have tested multiple prototypes and settled on a simple private zone behind two-factor authentication. Residents were invited to create an account, they were validated against the internal system and after validation they received an email with details about their tax and could pay via QR code or payment gateway.
2021 was a closed beta testing year with 500 residents signing up to test the service. We made sure to include 30% of residents over 50 with the eldest aged 83.
2022 was open to all residents and took feedback from the first year. Over 5000 residents signed up and used the service.
In 2023, we have included digital tax payment in the Bratislava ID and launched an intensive marketing campaign. After two weeks we have attracted over 17 000 residents who wanted to use the service.
The service has been tested extensively before the first launch for 9 months and then re-tested and improved every year since based on user feedback.
As with all our services it is mobile first, tested for accessibility and using simple language and FAQs for additional questions, all tested with residents prior to launching.
As mentioned above, based on very positive reception we have managed to attract over 17 000 residents for the tax payment in 2023. These residents will not receive an envelope in the mail saving the city 3,14 EUR per one resident. City spends over 500 000 EUR annually on postage which could be eliminated through using Bratislava ID.
Our colleagues are the first ones invited to test the service and provide feedback.
