INDIA and Indonesia share a problem: too little tax revenue. Of the 3.8% of India’s 1.3 billion people whose incomes are logged by the tax authorities, barely one-quarter cross the tax threshold. The share of Indians who declare annual incomes of more than 1m rupees (about $15,000) is just 0.1%. Among Indonesia’s 255m citizens, 27m are registered taxpayers. But in 2014 only 900,000 of them filed a return.

Indonesia’s tax-to-GDP ratio is around 11.4%—better than India’s 10.8%, but well below the OECD average of more than a third. Many people are simply not paying their dues. Both countries are stepping up efforts to bring dodgers in from the cold.

India, where an amnesty on undeclared domestic income expired on September 30th, has been stricter. Penitents, many of whom received warnings that they were being monitored, had to surrender 45% of their newly declared income. The government expects to rake in $4.4 billion from the 64,275 people who turned themselves in. That will dwarf the amount taken from a similar campaign last year, which targeted overseas income. In that one, India earned $373m from 633 individuals who owned up.

Indonesia has been trying an amnesty, too. Some 328,000 people took advantage of one launched in July during its first and most generous phase, which ended in September. They included prominent politicians and businessmen who posed for cameras as they handed over details of once-hidden wealth. They had to pay a penalty of just 2% on domestic or repatriated assets, and 4% on declared offshore assets. Penalty rates have now risen to 3% and 6%. They will rise again in January to 5% and 10% for the final three months of the amnesty. Income tax rates in Indonesia range up to 30% for individuals and 25% for firms.

A lack of credibility often hinders amnesties—scofflaws figure they can just wait until the next one. But in Indonesia’s case the Common Reporting Standard, an international agreement reached in 2014 on the sharing of tax information, seems to have helped. In late September Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s president, reportedly held a dinner for tycoons, at which they were warned to come clean or else. The amnesty has boosted the government’s coffers by $7 billion, around 60% of the total target. But whether more people will come forward by the end of March, given the increase in penalty rates, is unclear.

That some of Indonesia’s richest people appear to expect praise as patriots for taking part in the amnesty has angered many tax-paying Indonesians. On September 29th thousands of union members protested in Jakarta, demanding an end to the campaign. They say it rewards the tax-evading rich. Some opponents have taken their case to the constitutional court, arguing that the amnesty amounts to legalised money-laundering. But with commodity prices low and plans aplenty for big spending on infrastructure, the government believes it will help.