Pay UP or Shut UP! – issues of taxation

“Freedom isn’t free.” –Anonymous–

I am saddened that the brilliant mind that made the above declaration is unknown, as he/she should be heralded in putting words to a sentiment that has been misunderstood since its entrance into the English language. Words like Justice, Peace and of course Freedom.

What I would like to do is adapt the above saying, a little bit to deal with a scourge which has been crippling our nation from its birth in 1962.

Political opinions and political will are not free –xhanubis–

Clearly my version does not have the same ring to it…but I think the sentiment is equally important. I am tired of well to do “Tax Dodgers” who are the biggest political activists! We need to find a way to muzzle these dogs or charge them with treason! It is a basic fact that the Government does not “earn”; its ability to spend is based on the contributions that we, the citizens, make to its coffers. That said…I do believe if you are voluntarily withholding your contributions, you should be treated like the pariah you are.

Why should someone else finance the rights they expect as a citizen? Funny enough these shameless cretins are some of the people with the most demands – the hospitals are poorly equipped, the schools are rundown, the roads are horrible and they will bitch and moan for an entire day if they have someone to listen.

I think we need to get serious about taxation and its implications. The fact is, no matter how much money we borrow from the IMF or how many JDX exercises we mastermind, economics is simple, you cannot borrow your way out of debt. It is ridiculous to think that our Government is taxing electricity to “plug holes in our budget” when property tax compliance is around 50%. I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that if we ensure that compliance for this particular tax was 90% we would have had no need for the supplementary budget fiasco of last year (2009)

I do believe it is time we flip the script, time our citizens start getting back what they give.

- No voting without a TCC
- No Social Services without a TCC
- No Health Care without a TCC
- No Schools for your children without a TCC
- No Political Discussions without a TCC

OK that might be a bit harsh. I will settle for a vibrant revenue office that will stop wasting time on harassing current contributors and spend it “hunting down” delinquents. I would settle for giving the law the teeth to make “tax evasion” akin to treason, with stiff mandatory sentences. I would settle for our politicians having to publicly disclose their tax declarations…

I guess I can dream…

P.S. And while I am dreaming I would love to see Dudus’ tax returns for last financial year.