Why do we pay tax?

POLOKWANE – South African taxpayers often complain about the tax rate and how high it is.

Review asked high school learners if they knew what tax was, why we paid tax and if it was fair that we should pay tax.

Carla Ferreira said tax was money that we paid to government. “We pay tax to help government improve the country. In some cases, it is fair that we pay tax, so that we can improve the state of the country.”

Errol Hunt said: “Tax is a way that municipalities get income from the people. The municipalities use the money to improve infrastructure. It is fair that we pay tax because if the money is used correctly it can really improve our country, roads and buildings”.

Rudolph Markgraaff said: “I think it is money that we give to the government to sustain our country. We pay tax for the government to improve infrastructures. It is fair that we pay tax because we use the roads, public services and somehow we must help the government to pay for it”.

According to Mmatebogo Mphahlele, tax was an amount of money deducted from one’s salary every month and it was the 14% people pay when they buy goods or food. “We pay tax so that we can sustain our country and help our government in making sure our country is running well. Yes, it is fair that we pay taxes, if we do not pay taxes our country will get poor and start to fall apart. We are paying tax but our country’s economy is under pressure, so imagine what will happen if we were not paying it.”

Letago Kgomoeswane said tax was the amount of money that everybody paid to SARS, but tax came in different forms. “We have VAT that we pay on goods purchased and the tax that is deducted from everybody’s salaries. We pay tax so that we can assist our government to look after our country and make sure everything is running well. I think it is fair that we pay tax, it is part of building our country’s economy.”

Wendy Siloto said: “Tax is money we pay to the government in order for them to sustain our country. We pay tax so that the government will be able to help the needy people who do not work with grants. It is fair that we pay tax because some people get a lot of money either from government institutions or the private sector and they should at least give a small amount of it to government to be able to sustain our country and help the poor”.

Lerato Moloto said tax had to do with money. “But it comes in many forms, it is money we pay to contribute to the running of the country. We pay tax to help run and develop the country. It is fair that we pay tax because it is for a good cause because we need to develop our country and it helps those less fortunate than us.”

Monique Coetzee said: “Tax is money that people pay out of their salaries. We pay tax to make our country a better place and infrastructure because we also live in the country. In most cases it is fair that we pay taxes to make our country a better place”.

Roelof Myburgh said tax was money that we all pay to keep our country running. “The government uses our tax money to improve roads, land and build RDP houses. Yes it is fair that we pay tax, but it shouldn’t be too much money.”