Dear Editor

I would like to ask people, politicians (especially politicians) and organisations to desist from making claims about the taxation system that cannot be backed up.

Here are some points to consider:

1) For someone earning G$28,000 per month (or, G$336,000) per year the amount of imcome tax paid is zero.

2) The maximum amount paid in VAT @ 16% on this income would be G$50,600. But that is only the case if everything that person bought was subject to VAT.

Most of the monies people earn is paid on rent. And not everything is subject to VAT at 16%. The amount that a person pays in VAT may be about G$16,000.

3) The NIS is 5.2%. So the amount that people would pay on a salary of G$336,000 is G$17,500.

All this means that the person would pay out in “combined taxes” G$16,000 plus G$17,500 which gives G$33,500.

Or, combined taxes equates to 10% on a salary of G$28,000 per month.

So where did they get the figure of 55% paid out in taxes from?

Yours faithfully,

Sean Brignandan