Dakar, June 28 (APS) – Equity, transparency and accountability are three pillars necessary for the payment of tax by citizens and businesses, recalled the director of internal control at the General Directorate of Taxes and Domains (DGID), Amadou Abdoulaye Badiane, in an interview with the APS.
”There are three pillars […] to get people to agree to pay tax. The first pillar is equity. When everyone contributes, everyone knows that they will end up receiving their money,” explained Mr. Badiane.
The DGID official, interviewed on the occasion of the company meetings organized Thursday and Friday in Dakar by the National Employers’ Council, believes that the tax is as necessary as what the contributors of a tontine bring in as a contribution.
”The second pillar is transparency. The money we entrust to the State must return to us in the most transparent way,” he said.
”The tax must return to the populations in the form of public goods, roads, schools, hospitals, etc. Let’s take the example of the last Tabaski, with the transport difficulties. The State has made available to travelers the buses of Dakar Dem Dikk”, the national public transport company, recalled Amadou Abdoulaye Badiane to highlight the capacity of the State to provide services to all citizens with the help of taxes.
”All actors do not fully play their role for the viability of SMEs”
According to Mr. Badiane, citizens and businesses sometimes “reluctantly” pay taxes because they think it is to “enrich” a few people.
The level of “accountability” of state representatives to their constituents is the third pillar, he added.
”The tax issue is at the heart of our life together. If we want to live together, we must look for ways to get there. And from the State’s point of view, it has no other way than to collect money from citizens,” continued the director of internal control at the DGID.
“There are responsibilities, the first of which falls to the DGID, which must communicate to companies the means with which it will support them and avoid forcing them to close their doors,” said Mr. Badiane, speaking of corporate tax.
Companies, for their part, must approach the DGID to understand taxation, he added, stressing that “there is an adequate tax framework to allow companies to develop and have viability.” “Unfortunately, not all stakeholders play their role fully […] for the viability of SMEs.”
”Large companies have a framework for consultation [avec l’État]which is lacking in SMEs,” pointed out Amadou Abdoulaye Badiane.
He believes that “we need advocacy from the tax administration, professional organizations and SMEs to […] that everyone finds what they’re looking for.
MFD/ESF/SBS/OID
