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Principles of a good taxation system

Answer Text:
Principles of taxation
These are the characteristics that a good tax system should have.
A good tax system should be;
a) Equitable/principle of equity-Every subject of the state should pay tax in proportion to their income.
b) Certain/principle of certainty-The tax that an individual should pay
should be clear in terms of the amount, time and manner in which it should be paid.
c) Convenient/principle of convenience-Tax levied ought to be convenient to both the contributor and collector, it should be levied at a time when the payer has money and mode of payment should be
convenient to both the payer and the payee.
d) Economical/principle of economy-The cost of collecting and administering the tax should be lower than the tax so collected.
e) Flexible/principle of flexibility-It should be readily adaptable to changing economic times i.e. when the economic conditions of the people improve it should give raised revenue e.g. VAT
f) Simplicity-A good tax system should be simple enough to be understood by each tax payer. This will motivate them to pay tax.
g) Elastic/principle of elasticity-The tax system should be able to generate more revenue for the government by targeting
items of mass consumption