What govt gives it first takes away
Citizens need government to deliver public services. Government needs revenue to pay for the said services, and although citizens’ income taxes are not the only source of revenue for the government, it is a very important one.
Governments that have been properly elected into power are deemed legitimate, and therefore have the right to legally extract resources from their citizenry.
Refusing to pay legal taxes has been a common act of protest by citizens against governments that are deemed illegitimate.
Graph 1 shows that 77% of Namibians supported the notion that the tax authorities have the right to impose taxes. This is significantly higher than the 60% that felt this way in 2002. The segment who felt the opposite remained fairly consistent, at approximately 17%.
The government is seen as legitimate in its endeavours to raise public revenues by means of personal taxes. Graph 2 shows, however, that Namibians are less convinced that ‘all is equal’ in paying taxes. Most Namibians feel that rich people have much greater potential for getting away with evading taxes by paying bribes or using personal connections.
Such negative perceptions, if not addressed, may in the long run effect the legitimacy of the system.
* All survey data used is sourced from the Afrobarometer, a pan-African series of national public attitude surveys on democracy, governance and society. For more details please visit http://afrobarometer.org
Governments that have been properly elected into power are deemed legitimate, and therefore have the right to legally extract resources from their citizenry.
Refusing to pay legal taxes has been a common act of protest by citizens against governments that are deemed illegitimate.
Graph 1 shows that 77% of Namibians supported the notion that the tax authorities have the right to impose taxes. This is significantly higher than the 60% that felt this way in 2002. The segment who felt the opposite remained fairly consistent, at approximately 17%.
The government is seen as legitimate in its endeavours to raise public revenues by means of personal taxes. Graph 2 shows, however, that Namibians are less convinced that ‘all is equal’ in paying taxes. Most Namibians feel that rich people have much greater potential for getting away with evading taxes by paying bribes or using personal connections.
Such negative perceptions, if not addressed, may in the long run effect the legitimacy of the system.
* All survey data used is sourced from the Afrobarometer, a pan-African series of national public attitude surveys on democracy, governance and society. For more details please visit http://afrobarometer.org
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