Pay your taxes

What the Holy Spirit Taught me This Morning

Pastor Amos Dada PhD; P.Eng Chem Eng

“Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.” Rom 13:6-7

Do you pay your tax? Do you pay it correctly?

If yes. I give you Kudos. If not, this article is for you. I pray that from today you will resolve to perform this great civic duty to your nation and your world.

Paul admonished that we pay our taxes. He also gave some reasons in regard of same.

The western world is developed for many reasons amongst which is the fact that their government don’t play with taxes. Politicians make the matter of taxes a major campaign issue. Voters too decide who gets to power considering the matter of tax. Why ?

The government know that taxes constitute a major source of revenue. More than that, they also realize that they have to provide services and failure to be accountable with tax payers money can cost them their political future.

Bottom line, the advanced world ensures that their citizens pay their taxes and in return the government provides infrastructures, good roads , constant power supply and other amenities that make life and living comfortable.

On the other hand, the developing, yet to be developed and under developed world revel in poverty and wretchedness. One of the reasons for this is that their citizens don’t pay taxes. Even where they do, the leaders misappropriate the funds and so their nations don’t develop and the vicious circle continues.

What the Holy Spirit is saying this morning is, pay your taxes. Jesus said – give to Ceaser what belongs to Ceaser and to God what belongs to God. Two wrongs don’t make a right. You are not a fool if you pay your taxes even if unscrupulous government officials misappropriate it. No nation can ever develop
if the citizens fail to pay their taxes.

In the mid 80s I was just employed at NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ) when I saw my colleagues falsifying papers to avoid taxes – forging marriage certificates, giving fictitious names of children they never had. As if that was not enough, what actually surprised me was the officer in the tax office at Warri. When I submitted my tax form, he went through it and asked me if I was okay? I said, yes. “You mean you want to pay the full tax on your salary?” he asked. I said “yes”. He continued, “You mean you can not get a name of a woman and give so that you will avoid paying too much tax!” That was the government official who was to ensure that people pay correct taxes ! I asked him, “how do you want Warri to get out of this slum if people don’t pay correct taxes?” In annoyance he waved me off as Mr Holiness and Mr. Good citizen. That bothered me, so when I got to the office and shared my experience with my colleagues, one of them told me that his annoyance was due to my failure to give him a bribe. That all of them that forged papers gave him a bribe!

It is so easy to complain that Africa has not developed. How can there be development when citizens don’t pay their taxes and taxes paid are embezzled?

What is important is to move our nation(s) forward. Those in position of authority who are responsible for the disbursement of government fund should do so with prudence. Citizens also should not because of bad leaders fail to fulfill their civic responsibilities.

The bible says, pay your taxes. Obedience is better than sacrifice. There is no point singing holy songs in the church and falsifying papers in the office like unbelievers. By paying taxes the government is not asking you for the money you don’t have but from the money you have earned.

Live your life to be on the good side of the law and in obedience to God. A word is enough for the wise.

Shalom!