Late Night Talk

"The greater the level of corruption, the less we will have tax integrity and the greater the possibility of a tax revolt," warned Judge Dennis Davis, Chairperson of the Davis Tax Committee, at the University of the Witwatersrand on Thursday.

Davis also said he feels uneasy about implementing a carbon tax because of its retrogressive nature.

Considering the vast inequities in South Africa, the tax system had to be progressive – i.e. those earning higher incomes should be paying at a higher rate.

The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield interviewed Judge Davis.

Davis spoke about growth and inequality, and the role of the tax system in South Africa.

Scroll down for quotes from the audio below.

I continually get people talking to me about government corruption and expenditure.

— Judge Dennis Davis

The legitimacy of the system is brought in question due to wasteful expenditure and corruption.

— Judge Dennis Davis

We must have effective prosecution when dealing with corruption.

— Judge Dennis Davis

We do have serious demands on the fiscus.

— Judge Dennis Davis

Government underfunds tertiary education.

— Judge Dennis Davis

When you earn a hell of a lot of money and you die - frankly, with our inequality, we need to tax you.

— Judge Dennis Davis

If your earn R20 million a year – you don’t want to chase them out of the country – but we’re all in this together!

— Judge Dennis Davis

Poor people are citizens and they’re paying a lot of VAT in proportion to their income.

— Judge Dennis Davis

If we have a tax revolt the level of social instability will be something I don’t even want to think about.

— Judge Dennis Davis