Yes, taxation helps to mobilize the resources needed to run the State and make public investments.
But its missions go further: taxation influences the decisions of economic players. It is an instrument of public policy that can promote social justice, in response to structural or cyclical imbalances. It can also be a vector for citizen participation, and a condition for acceptance of the legitimacy of institutions.
In other words, paying taxes means accepting the social contract and giving ourselves the means to live together.
- If, as we have said, taxation plays a particular role in the construction of society, is low tax pressure systematically synonymous with a weakened social contract?
- What are the implications of these figures for living together in countries that collect less?
- Is the political and institutional instability characterized by several coups d’état in the sub-region, indirectly, a manifestation of the difficulties experienced by countries in proposing a healthy and fair social contract?
- Should the effectiveness of a tax policy be judged solely on the basis of the revenue raised?
