For as long as there have been governments there have been taxes and ultimately it can be said that taxes are the price we pay for publicly provided services. A few examples of these would be government schools, public health care, the police and armed forces, etcetera, etcetera. While most citizens concede that taxes are indeed necessary and understand that they will most likely be perpetual, few are convinced that the methods of collection are either fair or practical. Throughout history, taxes considered burdensome have been the cause of quite a few upheavals and in fact were the major cause of the renowned American Revolution, which eventually led to their Independence Day. In the eleventh century AD, the famous Lady Godiva rode naked through the streets of England in protest of an unfair tax that was being levied by her husband the Earl on the poor people of their province. In appreciation and solidarity no one looked except one guy by the name of Tom. Hence the term, peeping Tom.

In the late 1980’s, the dubious Emelda Marcos, wife of the deposed monarch of the Philippines was quoted as saying that only the poor pay taxes. While it was a brazen statement, it was unfortunately, not very far from the truth. While the rich can usually take advantage of numerous loopholes and pretexts to evade this responsibility, the average working class person is rarely afforded that opportunity. We pay taxes on our salaries, on the interest from our savings and now with the dreaded VAT in place, we pay taxes whenever we buy any of the countless items that are not exempted from that tariff.

In the last sitting of the House of Representatives, the government of BELIZE introduced a plan for a revision of our current tax system that according to our lawmakers will seek to level the playing field.

I believe that this would be a good time to confess that while I graciously accept the compliment of being okay with words, I do not believe that the same holds true as it pertains to figures. I am no economist and the complex jargon and peripherals of tax ordinances confounds me as much as it does the next person and so I must explain that this is in no way an attempt to interpret this recent tax bill. I do know however, that unlike the wealthy mineral and oil producing countries of the world which often realize enough revenues from those sources to excuse it’s citizens their taxes, there is nothing in the foreseeable future which would indicate that BELIZEANS will ever be relieved from this encumbrance. The only way that any government of ours will ever be able to function is by collecting taxes. Do not be fooled by any political propaganda from either party, which would imply that taxes would be totally abolished. It is just not practical and the best that we can hope for is to maintain some sort of balance between the often-conflicting objectives of efficiency and equity. Interestingly enough, by a margin of 97 to zero, the United States Senate recently voted in favor of a bill aimed at reforming it’s own tax laws. A major difference is that while Americans complain that IRS agents and managers are too aggressive, our problem might be that our tax department is quite too complacent and lenient. It has been suggested that if our own Internal Revenue Service would collect just a portion of the taxes owed, that our national deficit might in fact, be wiped out.

There are those who believe that this new tax will insure that many, especially large companies who have hitherto been escaping, will now have to pay their fair dues. Others suggest that it might instead, discourage investments, limit advertising and dissuade donations which up to this point, could have been written off. It seems to me that what we really need, is a simple comprehensive tax plan that will be able to be understood by all and then for our politicians to be scrupulous enough to engage in prudent, practical and meaningful expenditures. Instead of squandering on expensive vehicles, needless traveling and expensive propaganda, what they should pay attention to, are solid government programs that will address the needs of all of our people and especially those most in need. Instead of either party using this tax issue for political mileage, maybe they could do what we pay them to do and actually put their heads together and hammer out a feasible and more comprehensive plan. Like political reform, tax reform is imperative and quite late in coming and if this new measure is indeed a means toward that end, then regardless of who will institute it, I say aye for I am all in favor.