By Francisco A. Castellanos-Sosa 

28 Sep 16 - 12:00

In Mexico, almost 30 million people work in the informal sector, according to INEGI's official data. Therefore, they have no access to social security or to legal benefits. And, what do you think? they do not pay taxes. Whatsoever, they use public goods at the expense of those who pay taxes as the law indicates. Is this situation fair? I'll leave the answer to your criteria. 

The thing I will not let floating on the air is the fact that if we want our government to function properly and responsibly, then we must do the same. We must be responsible citizens, pay taxes as we must, give our employees the legal benefits they deserve, and critically choose our leaders. 

Government, at any level, is, or at least should be, a group of people representing their citizens. Therefore, to generate public goods shared public responsibilities are needed. From this fact arises the concept of public revenue. We, together, provide a certain proportion of our money in the form of taxes to create public goods. Parks, streets, lighting, and utilities, among other assets, arise from what we pay to the Government. 

So, why, if we want quality public goods, we do not want to pay taxes? It may be due to some civil unrest that originated when rulers do not exercise public spending correctly. Nevertheless, that does not relieve us from paying our taxes nor of being responsible citizens in our daily actions. 

*** This is a translation of a published article in Monterrey's ABC Journal on September 28, 2016.