A Tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or national).
The overall concept about tax payment is that it is beneficial on multiple levels including the development of the nation economically socially etc. It also goes to betterment of infrastructure like roads, schools, markets, hospitals etc. payment of tax is able to uplift the wellbeing of society and advance welfare activities for the nation.
Taxes are levied by governments on their citizens to generate income for undertaking projects to boost the economy of the country and to raise the standard of living of its citizens. For example, if funds are available for government to use, medicines will be available in hospitals for citizens to access, be healthy and contribute to the country’s economy. Availability of funds will also make schools have amenities like desks chalks and teachers will be salaries leading for them to be motivated and put in the best to have learners get a good education for the betterment of the country.
Through payment of taxes, Government is able to afford to provide public security by providing resources through the security wings. Salaries for men and women in uniform as security workers are also paid. The availability of funds derived from payment of taxes is able to ensure that provision of various health services, education facilities, water treatment plants, street lighting, disaster relief, running of government ministries and many other services are all provided to the expectation of the public.
Payment of tax ensures also that there is wealth redistribution. Normally, this means transferring wealth from the richer sections of society to poorer sections, and this function is widely accepted in most democracies, although the extent to which this should happen is always controversial. To support this, the famous French writer and philosopher Voltaire said that “the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other”. This is a statement that really underscores the role of taxes and redistribution of resources by the government.
Paying of tax can also be a means of repricing. Once such instance of repricing is when taxes are levied to address externalities like the case of tobacco; tobacco is highly taxed, for example, to discourage smoking, and many people advocate policies such as implementing a carbon tax to address the issue of environmental degradation and greenhouse emissions
The fact is that If people were not paying taxes, there would be no public schools, hospitals, roads, no civil service and many other things. Having enough revenue in government coffers as a result of people paying their share of tax will ensure that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which is meant to benefit the citizens on grassroot is released timely and in actual amounts.
Payment of taxes depends on the type of tax system being administered, but generally, people with low income do not pay as much as those with high income. Usually people with high income pay a higher percentage than those with a lower income. With regard to consumption taxes, it is critical for the consumer to ensure that they obtain a receipt for the services and goods purchased so that their tax contribution as consumers is assured of being remitted to government are taken care of through the tax collected and money allocated to the fire brigade through government support.
While paying tax is considered to be a civic duty, paying tax is a requirement by law. It is illegal not to pay taxes and such action is known as Tax Evasion. People engage in tax evasion because the payment of taxes is unpopular. An example of tax evasion is someone selling goods at an open market but does not declare the profit made as income.
Members of the public are therefore urged to pay tax even if at times it may not benefit them at an individual level. However, the idea is that tax is paid to have available all these services like roads, markets, schools, hospitals etc and are used for society as a whole.
All citizens are morally and legally bound to pay their fair share of tax. Money collected from taxes helps the country become stronger and help the Government provide services to its citizens.
