Tax Justice South Africa Manifesto
Tax Justice South Africa Manifesto
Brazen tax criminals are robbing every law-abiding South African of the right to be the best they can be.
Every single day these crooks cynically loot millions of rand that should be spent on educating our children, healing our sick and sheltering our vulnerable. They live in luxury using funds that should be used to create jobs and wealth. And they even pocket the money that should be spent on bringing them to justice and locking them up.
They do so by stealing the tax they owe to the state purse. It’s the same purse that you help to fill through your hard-earned pay packet, or every time you visit the shops.
By trading in illicit tobacco, clothing, pharmaceuticals, fuel and minerals, the criminals rob South Africa of R100 million in taxes every single day.
They have been allowed to thrive for decades due to corruption and complacency and it’s gone on so long that our country and our people are now at imminent risk.
It’s time for it to stop. It’s time to #LockThemUp
To fight this scourge and build a safer and better South Africa, Tax Justice SA pledges to enforce this five-point plan:
1. Lock up tax evaders
Investigations into the dark economy – and the sentencing of crooks making their fortunes within it – are key to halting the looting of our country. TJSA is campaigning for increased enforcement by the authorities and mandatory jail terms for kingpins convicted of illegal trading.
2. Return stolen billions to the SA people
Criminal tax evaders have carved a huge black hole in our national finances. TJSA is campaigning for looted billions to be seized and returned to the State and its people.
3. Ring-fence recovered funds for education
Tax looters are robbing South Africa’s children of their future by pocketing money earmarked for education. The tax stolen in a single week could pay the salaries of almost 9,000 primary school teachers for an entire year. TJSA is campaigning to ensure funds recovered from crooks are used exclusively for education until we’ve put a substantial plug in our tax gap.
4. Expose tax evasion across the economy
Tax is being stolen from South Africans through counterfeit clothing, drug manufacturing and smuggling, illicit and underdeclared tobacco, illegal alcohol trading, illicit mining, ivory smuggling and the poaching of endangered species. We want to highlight the scale and scope of this evil and encourage citizens to report wrongdoing wherever they encounter it.
5. Ensure State authorities do their job
To secure a fair and prosperous future for all South Africans, our lawmakers, law enforcers and civil servants must ensure due taxes are paid, collected and spent for the benefit of our Rainbow Nation. TJSA is campaigning to ensure that all State authorities perform their jobs diligently, lawfully and without fear or favour.