A viable tax system must  meet the requirement of legitimacy. In a society riven by the profound inequalities of SA, there can be no legitimacy when a cohort of wealthy people continue to evade their obligations to pay a fair share of tax.

Note the use of the word “evasion” as opposed to “avoidance”. If the wealthy can afford skilled tax advice to structure their affairs so as to reduce their liability for tax within the parameters of the law, that may prompt a debate about the morality of such conduct, but it is legal...

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