The incorporating of basic tax education in the secondary school curriculum

Abstract

Taxation has become one of the most important concepts in the everyday lives of millions of taxpayers in South Africa. Not only does SARS require each and every employee to be registered as taxpayer but people are more and more reliant on the money in their pocket for everyday survival. Taxpayers want to know why they pay taxes, how the taxes deducted from their income is calculated and what the government is doing with such taxes deducted from the taxpayers. It would thus be for the benefit of both taxpayer and SARS to provide taxpayers in South Africa with a basic form of tax education to provide them with knowledge regarding how the tax system works. School-going children are the future taxpayers of South Africa and therefore it is deemed the most effective place to educate such future taxpayers about taxation. This will allow South African taxpayers to have a basic knowledge on their tax affairs as well as to make informed decisions about their tax affairs. Increasing the level of the taxpayer’s knowledge about taxes will lead to an increase in the attitude of taxpayers about their tax affairs. This will result in an increase in the level of the country’s tax compliance rate and ultimately resulting in the overall increase in the income basis of the South African government. AFRIKAANS : Belasting is besig om een van die mees belangrikste konsepte in die allerdaagse lewe van miljoene belastingpligtiges in Suid-Afrika te word. Nie net alleen vereis die SAID dat ieder en elke werknemer vir belasting geregistreer word nie maar belastingpligtiges raak al hoe meer afhanklik van die geld in hulle sak vir allerdaagse oorlewing. Belastingpligtiges wil weet waarom hulle belasting betaal, hoe die belasting wat hulle betaal bereken word en hoe die belasting wat hulle betaal deur die Suid-Afrikaanse regering spandeer word. Dit sal dus vir beide die belastingbetaler sowel as vir die SAID voordelig wees dat belastingpligtiges in Suid-Afrika ‘n basiese opleiding in die veld van belasting ontvang ten einde hulle te voorsien van kennis rondom die belastingstelsel van Suid-Afrika. Skoolgaande kinders is die toekomstige belastingpligtiges van die land en dit word geag die mees effektiewe plek te wees om die toekomstige belastingpligtiges te onderrig rakende die onderwerp van belasting. Dit sal alle Suid-Afrikaanse belastingpligtiges toerus met ‘n basiese vlak van kennis rakende hulle belastingsake en om hulle in staat te stel om ingeligte besluite te maak rondom hulle belastingsake. Deur dus die vlak van kennis van belastingpligtiges te verhoog, sal dit lei tot ‘n verhoging in die algehele gesindheid van die belastingpligtiges rondom hulle belastingsake. Dit sal verder lei tot ‘n verhoging in die land se belastingnakomingskoers wat dan uiteindelik sal lei tot ‘n verhoging in die inkomste basis van die Suid-Afrikaanse regering.