Tax willingness plummeting due to lockdown and corruption – Sakeliga poll
10 August 2020
A new Sakeliga poll shows that lockdown and corruption is pushing businesses’ willingness to pay tax off a cliff.
95% of respondents in a Sakeliga poll this week said that lockdown decreased their willingness to pay tax. Nine out of 10 indicated an inclination to delay tax payments for as long as legally possible. Six out of 10 would even consider illegally withholding tax if encouraged to do so and if it could end lockdown quicker.
Piet le Roux, Sakeliga CEO says that a new normal in tax willingness is rapidly taking hold. “The new normal for tax willingness is going to be much lower than before. We recommend that government and analysts compensate for this trend in their estimations of future fiscal deficits. Businesses are becoming unusually motivated to decrease their tax payments.”
Le Roux says that, from participants’ comments and the state of the country, evidently lockdown, corruption, mismanagement, and generally harmful government policies have created a perfect storm.