While the general tendency to focus on retreating natural resources is understandable given the country`s recent history, there is a danger that it will overlook whether and how direct taxes could be used more wisely to finance the state. In fact, very little is known about the taxes levied in South Sudan by researchers and, ultimately, by many South Sudanese. This is despite persistent reports from the beginning of independence to the present day, numerous checkpoints and conflicts between the central government and the states over fiscal powers. Dr. Matthew Benson is the Research Manager of the Conflict Research Program and Research Manager for the PRC South Sudan team. In his research, he examines how people have experienced and shaped public authority and relations between the centre and the peripheries in South Sudan and Sudan through tax negotiations in these countries. “Well, sometimes two words in the Dinka language [Ajuer or Mun] can mean one thing. When I was young, I heard people say cows for Mun, which confuses me because Chief Gol collected the tax and gave it to the sous-chef and the sous-chef passed it on to the executive chef and I didn`t even know where that boss would end up giving the money. It was a big question in my head because I always told myself that I would have liked to grow up so that I could collect taxes and use them to meet my needs. But now that I`m an adult, I can know where that money is going [and] mun refers to a physical asset like a cow or a meal, but juning can be in any form. “Being aware that the country is drained by war, sometimes everything is just a struggle. […] The fact is that every person who has the opportunity to lead a public office is thinking for their own benefit, not for the benefit of the country. If the taxes collected do not fall into good hands and the methods of collecting taxes are not reliable, how can we have a relationship of trust with the collection authority? The push for more public services in exchange for paying taxes is evident in other interviews, one of which expressed it even more bluntly: At the same time, as South Sudan`s economic situation deteriorates, deeper fears about people`s ability to pay taxes when it`s so difficult to earn income are emerging: “.

The question we have never stopped asking ourselves is: Where does our money go? Because we`ve never seen anything tangible done with the money we raise. The problem comes here because we will never get an answer. The wrong answer we get is that the money was taken from the government and we keep asking, who is this government really? Because we are told that it is the government that cannot give anything back. That is really our concern, but if the government had reimbursed us on the roads, I think we would all be willing to pay more taxes, even twice a year. This touches on one of the most impactful research findings to date, where people feel it is their duty to pay taxes, but are left in a state of confusion about whether and how these taxes help improve public services: Dr. Matthew Benson and his team have done excellent research – information and education for the younger generation in South Sudan. “Juer” was a common word in the Dinka-occupied territories of South Sudan, particularly in the Rumbek Lakes State. People declare not only goods and services as “ajuer”, but also “juar röt” (volunteer) to fight for the liberation of South Sudan.

This research actually delves deeper into the fundamental meaning of taxes. As these interview excerpts show, South Sudan`s tax study vividly depicts a “supply chain” of social relations between the people and the government. It also addresses some of the hopes, fears and disappointments that many South Sudanese would feel about the role of the state in their lives and South Sudanese citizenship as a whole. This blog sheds light on some of the taxes people pay in the country and offers insight into how the role of taxes and, to some extent, the role of government in the lives of the South Sudanese people is highly controversial. One of the immediate results is that even when taxes do not contribute to “official” budgets, there are many taxes in the country and the distinction between different types of taxes is often blurred for taxpayers. For example, the Mun (also known as muun/muun koc) is a type of informal tax that is often non-monetary and is levied by some common authorities in Dinka regions. And as noted in Gogrial East, some differences appear between Mun and another type of informal tax known as Ajuer: Other people have provided additional descriptions of Mun that emphasize a certain ability to negotiate taxes with different types of agencies, including military officials. This finding contradicts the assumption that South Sudanese are fully engaged in an elitist kleptocracy: many types of payments to non-residents are subject to withholding tax.

The Tax Law Amendment Act 2016 made withholding tax a final tax in most cases. Previously, withholding tax was considered final in respect of interest, dividends and royalties, but merely an initial payment on final tax in respect of technical and management services costs. Given that there is little understanding of the country`s tax system, my research as part of the Conflict Research Program (CRP) aims to better understand the different types of taxes in South Sudan and how taxes affect the relationship between the people and the government. Over the past few months, South Sudanese CRP researchers have conducted interviews with joint authorities, tax collectors, South Sudanese aid and development workers, tea ladies and others in different parts of the country to better understand the types of taxes people pay. In addition to mapping differences between types of taxes across the country, the researchers are also examining social relationships that could inform taxes through questions that touch on why people pay taxes and, in some cases, collect them. “As a citizen, it is my duty to pay taxes because I expect the government to provide public services with this money. My taxes and someone else`s taxes can make a difference in the development of this country, but the fact is that there is no visibility in the taxes we pay during these wars. There are big wars and we never know if our taxes will be diverted to finance this crisis. The tax incentives and duty exemptions are sought through an application to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, which is requested and administered by the South Sudan Investment Authority, the government-designated agency to regulate and promote investment opportunities in South Sudan, the region and the world.