How to give oneself peace of mind when rendering unto Manuel what is due
March 14, 2004
 By Quentin Wray
It's that time of year again when those of us lucky enough to have jobs have to tally up whether or not we have, indeed, rendered unto Trevor what is, in the eyes of the law, his due.
And with the SA Revenue Service's new-found efficiency, most of us approach this painful annual chore with far greater diligence than was perhaps the case in the past.
However, it is a rare taxpayer, indeed, who believes he or she gets value for money from the state, and this makes tax a true grudge purchase.
But the fact is that inequality and poverty have to be dealt with as a matter of urgency, and a redistributive budget is an essential part of the process.
There are alternatives to tax that I think should be explored more - for example, the economy should be freed up and people allowed to work at whatever wage they choose - but taxing the rich to provide services for the poor is a concept that is here to stay.
Theoretically, I have no problem with this. It's just that, selfishly, I wish more of my money was spent on me and my family and less went on people I didn't know.
Despite handing over nearly 40 percent of their salaries to the state every month, middle-class South Africans still have to provide many of their own public goods, such as security, healthcare and education, themselves.
Insurance premiums are high because of crime and social engineering policies such as black economic empowerment and affirmative action - while undoubtedly a necessary investment in the country's future socioeconomic wellbeing - add layers of costs on to the system.
The endemic lack of capacity within the public service leads to inefficiencies and corruption, placing yet another "tax" on citizens.
Given that a lot of us pay more in taxes than we do in house and car repayments, it is easy to have sympathy for libertarian arguments that tax is theft and the state nothing but an efficient means of extorting cash from us.
Be that as it may, paying up certainly beats sitting in jail for tax fraud, and the way I cope with this is by adopting a public works programme or government activity that appeals to me and telling myself that every cent of my tax has gone into that specific thing.
Although this may be bordering on delusional, by doing this I see my tax money being spent in a way I approve of and it's other people's money that gets wasted. I can deal with this.
My favourite projects are the Nelson Mandela Bridge connecting Newtown to Braamfontein in Johannesburg and the department of trade and industry's trade negotiating team.
The bridge has added value to my life. When I drive over it on my way to work in the morning it cuts about 10 minutes off my commute and it is, I think, quite beautiful.
Remembering that for the first four and a half months of each tax year I am working solely for the taxman and am, therefore, making this trip for him every Monday to Friday (and more than a few Sundays) from March to mid-July, I think it's important that I like what he bought with my money.
OK, I probably only paid for a piece of pole, a few light fittings and a small patch of tar, but I am comfortable with sharing.
The other thing I am comfortable paying for is our team of trade negotiators.
By the end of this year we will have practically unfettered access to markets in the US and all of western Europe, by next year India's 1 billion people will be on the list, Brazil and China will follow and we - a tiny economy at the bottom end of the world's poorest continent - will be able to flog our stuff across an estimated 80 percent of world markets.
The negotiating team can have my cheque (as long as they promise not to share it with some of their more inept colleagues).
When you buy the bulk of your public goods from the private sector, your taxes become more a usage fee than anything else. We pay so we can live the lives we lead.
But if our quality of life stops being worth what we pay for it - and this is an extremely subjective valuation - those of us who can will simply emigrate. This is a straight economic decision.
The skills shortage is already chronic and this is just one reason all efforts from the left to get tax rates raised further must be strenuously resisted.
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