When I saw this prompt at first, I was almost tempted to write it from the point of view of a typical angry Nigerian, lol. I would have targetted the rich (especially the politicians) and suggested that they ought to pay so much more (Very crazy percentage) , because most of them are involved in so many shady activities. I later realized there was even no point, they will always have their way as there is no way to even keep track on their earnings. As a matter of fact, they get more than their actual salaries through other means. However, I am not one to generalize in cases like this one. Some rich people actually work their asses off to get to where they have gotten to.
So, I will not be writing my response to this prompt like a typical Nigerian, I will treat it from a general point of view. Taxation is one type of contribution to an economy that is actually very important. It is like the citizens' contributions to the growth of their econmy because all these taxes are used to improve the entire system of a country. That is in a reasonable country of course, some just embezzle it and make it a personal source of earning in some countries. Taxes are meant to be channeled into improving public services or establishments like schools, roads, hospitals and so much more. So, taxes are meant to be paid by every citizen no matter how much they earn.
Personally, I do not think it is fair to tax everyone on the same percentage regardless of how much income they earn. There should be something like a ranging system, that seems quite reasonable to me. Let's take for instance, the taxation rate is 10% one person is earning 50,000 in a month and another person is earning 5,000,000 in a month. To be honest, the fair thing would have been to have them both pay 10% but it doesn't seem very fair to me personally. The person earning more should have a slightly higher rate, like 12%, I will explain why.
My theory is that the person getting 50,000 is benefitting less from the economy than the other person earning 5,000,000. The tax they will pay might seem low but when you romove it from the actual income, whatever is left will definitely have to be managed. I am not saying life should be hard on the rich, I want to be rich one day as well and I wouldn't mind contributing a little more than others to make the country a much better one.
The person earning 5,000,000 is obviously benefitting more from the country and will also be facing the same economic issues that the 50,000 earner is also facing. Paying with the same tax rate wouldn't just be fair at all, don't you agree?. At the same time, not paying with the same tax rate also doesn't mean one person should get drained. So, I mentioned a ranging system earlier, I called it that because I cannot think of a better name right now, but here is the idea:
People earning very low should be given a reasonable tax rate, people earning slightly higher (maybe average earners in this case) should have an higher tax rate but definitely not to high, maybe +2% or so. Then the high earners should have about +5% rate added to the normal rate. In this way, no one is being extorted and everyone is treated fairly, according to their earnings. This is what fair taxation means to me.
Thanks for reading ❤️