The_Open_Door_deel1

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Both the previous and the present Administration have failed
to take measures which would introduce a truly progressive tax
structure and eliminate the privileges which discriminate viza-viz
the lower income classes.
The country's internal politics are the main reason that the
(locally called) "big shots" are more successful in avoiding the
payment of their taxes than their less fortunate fellowcountrymen.
The majority of the Liberian people, in general the
rural population, faces per capita taxes such as Hut Tax,
Development Tax (also Coast Guard Tax, Health Tax etc)
regardless of the level of their income. The regressive nature
of these per capita taxes and the practically inavoidable
character of these taxes have resulted in a situation in which
the "Have nots" and the poor people contribute (in relative
terms) more to the National Treasury than the rich and the
super-rich. The Deputy Minister of Finance who in 1979 said that
the poor in Liberia are bearing the brunt of the cost of running
the Government was therefore right (62).
The problem of enforced collection of delinquent taxes is above
all a political problem, though it is treated as a legal dispute
in Liberia. In 1970 the U.S. mission which surveyed Liberia's
Tax Administration had recommended that the authority for
administrative enforcement of collections should be transferred
from the Department of Justice to the Treasury Department (63).
.The recommendation was never accepted and implemented as the
Minister of Justice continued to hold the opinion that such a
transfer was against the Constitution which provides for a
separation of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. Article
I, Section H of the Constitution reads that
"The powers of this Government shall be divided into three
distinct departments; Legislative, Executive, and judicial:
and no person belonging to one of these departments shall
exercise any of the powers belonging to either of the others.
This Section is not to be construed to include 3-UStices
of the Peace".
Yet in 1979 there were complaints that the Courts did not do
their work properly and were not even able to collect 5 per cent
of claims amounting to $ 1.1 million (64.).
It is therefore not surprising that a comparison of eleven
developing countries with relatively similar economies made at
the end of the 1970's showed that Liberia ranked last in tax
effort. Tax effort is meant here as actual performance resulting
from tax legislation, interpretation and enforcement of tax laws,
and the administrative machinery (65). As a result it is
estimated that revenue collection can improve by as much as 60
per cent whereas lower estimates indicate an improvement by at
least 25 per cent over the level of nearly % 200 million in 1978