Have you hugged your taxpayer today?

EVERYONE needs to be just a little bit nicer to taxpayers, a little more cognisant of the fact that without their goodwill, we would be in serious trouble.

The trouble is, that goodwill is slowly fading and runs the risk of eroding a small base of individual and corporate taxpayers unless the state either gets a grip on its spending or does considerably better PR.

As public anger at state hubris grows, the South African Revenue Service is finding it harder and harder to extract money from reluctant taxpayers.

SARS says it is owed about R100-billion in unpaid taxes and is having to use commercial banks as agents to raid the personal accounts of those who owe it money.

Banks aren’t happy with the practice. They are at the receiving end of customer anger once reluctant taxpayers are jolted into action to get their affairs in order. But the Income Tax Act allows SARS, as a last resort, when “all reasonable measures” have been exhausted, to effectively help itself to what you owe. SARS says it is often left with little choice.

About 15 million of us have a paying job of some kind. Fewer than half pay income tax, according to the National Treasury 2015 Tax Statistics Bulletin, released this week. Worryingly, the number of companies that pay tax is declining against a backdrop of falling profits.

SARS has built up a tough reputation in the past 20 years. Few South Africans would openly defy it.

However, like the students who won a relatively easy battle against the government on fee increases, South Africans have been emboldened by the defiance of ordinarily law-abiding Gauteng residents’ refusal to pay e-tolls.

More and more are simply gatvol about the way their money is spent.

The Department of Defence and state weapons procurement firm Armscor were quick this week to dismiss reports of a looming R4-billion bill for a new presidential aircraft.

Yes, confirmed Armscor CEO Kevin Wakeford, they were looking for a suitable aircraft to ferry government VIPs around the world. No, the national carrier was not a suitable alternative, because the plane needed to have capacity for work to be done on board and there were security constraints. No, he could not disclose the budget for the planned purchase, or whether indeed there was a budget and if there was a budget whether that would provide a ceiling on expenditure.

All we know is that it is happening with indecent haste, fast-tracked for a deal by the end of March.

Not to be outdone, Jacob Zuma’s close friend, Dudu Myeni, the chairwoman of his foundation and SAA, in defiance of the National Treasury — which has oversight of the airline — went off-piste with a unilateral renegotiation with French plane-maker Airbus for an order for new aircraft for SAA. Board members are heading for the emergency exit as the ability of the Treasury to provide proper oversight of state spending is tested.

It’s no wonder South Africans are so quick to believe the R4-billion thumbsuck attached to the VIP aircraft purchase. It illustrates the breakdown in public trust of state spending.

For years taxpayers have been cynical about government spending, but things have been going downhill since the ludicrous attempts to justify public money on Nkandla’s bizarre security features.

Taxpayers watch with morbid fascination to see what new mechanisms will be devised to part them from their money. Personal income tax makes up the biggest single chunk of government revenue. Another hefty whack of money comes from business — what the EFF refers to as “white monopoly capital”, a dark, brooding force hellbent on the exploitation of workers.

The tax stats show that fewer companies are paying tax than in 2013 — in fact, just a quarter of companies pay any tax at all. In all, 45% report zero taxable income and nearly a third make an assessed loss. Most company taxes come from a minuscule 0.1% of corporations. Those companies with a taxable income of R100-million a year contribute 65% of all company tax.

It could be so much more if, rather than discouraging investment and driving capital offshore, we could have it invested here, grown here, and ultimately taxed here. But that will require substantially more trust between the public and private sectors than exists right now — plus an occasional high-five for just doing the right thing.

Whitfield is Sanlam financial journalist of the year