Attitudes of South African taxpayers towards taxation : a pilot study

Abstract

The South African Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel stated that the obligation to pay one’s fair share of taxes as and when they fall due is part of the new morality which democratic governance must inculcate in every South African. He accepted that tax evasion and fraud are among the most insidious forms of criminality that plague the South African society and that millions of Rand are diverted everyday from the fiscus by tax criminals. Limited research on taxpayers’ perceptions has been performed in South Africa. It is of utmost importance to determine taxpayers’ perceptions towards taxation in order, not only to influence Government policy regarding taxation but also to enable Government to market itself and its services more effectively to the general public. This paper reports the results of a pilot study of a larger research project carried out amongst South African taxpayers by means of personal, face-to-face interviews with a structured and semi-structured questionnaire administered at respondents’ homes. Although the majority of the respondents did not feel it is unfair to pay tax, all of the respondents were of the opinion that waste and corruption in government is high. In addition, the majority of the respondents felt that taxes is used by government for meaningless purposes and that the government does not provide enough information about how they utilise taxpayers’ money. The respondents, therefore, felt that tax rates should be reduced. One of the most effective tools for making people more positive is to empower them with knowledge. It is submitted that there is no better tool for government to positively influence the taxpayers of a democracy than to provide them with knowledge on how taxpayers’ money is utilised.