79% SWAZIS DON’T KNOW HOW GOVT USES THEIR TAXES

MANZINI – About 80 per cent of Swazis do not know how government uses tax revenue in the country.
This was disclosed by Activequest Research Director Edward Okoth when revealing findings of their Afrobarometer study.

This is a perception survey that was done last year June and is meant to include ordinary people in conversation around topical issues.
The release of the statistics was held at The George Hotel yesterday.
Okoth said according to a study conducted in June last year, their findings show that most Swazis find it difficult to obtain information about how government uses the revenue it collects from taxes and fees.

“A total of 79 per cent of Swazis find it difficult to obtain information on how much taxes and fees they are supposed to pay government and how it uses that revenue. In fact, 79 per cent said it was difficult to find out how government used revenue obtained from people’s taxes and fees,” Okoth said.
He said the research findings also revealed that it was men (82 per cent) who find it harder to get the information on how government uses their taxes when compared to women (76 per cent).

“The research findings also suggest that people who are living in the rural areas find it easier to access information on how government uses their taxes. A total of 83 per cent of the people living in urban areas said it was difficult for them to get such information while there were only 78 per cent from the rural areas who said it was easy,” Okoth said.

Hesaid when it comes to finding out about the taxes that the people have to pay, a total of 57 per cent said it was very difficult while 26 per cent and 18 per cent said it was easy and do not know, respectively.

Okoth said the findings reflect that people living in the urban areas have access to such information slightly better than those who live in rural areas as there were 56 per cent who said so in the urban area while they were 57 per cent in the rural areas.

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