Tax compliance is a major concern as states try to increase state revenues in order to provide services for their populations. Remarkably, taxation has not figured centrally on the agenda among scholars working on the African voter. This article contributes through studying the social practice of taxes, by asking: how is taxation understood as a political practice? This is studied using focus groups across the private and public sector in Namibia, where the willingness to pay taxes and the relative tax burden is high. This micro-study of citizens’ experiences focuses on the perceived room for political practice in relation to taxes, sense of influence over taxes and whether taxes are thought about in citizenship terms. The article shows that taxes are relegated to a sphere of politics where deliberation and opportunities for accountability are missing, yet ideas of duty are central elements of tax compliance.

税收合规是一个主要问题，因为各州试图增加州收入以便为其人口提供服务。值得注意的是，在研究非洲选民的学者们的议程中，税收并未占据中心位置。本文通过研究税收的社会实践，提出以下问题：如何将税收理解为一种政治实践？这是通过纳米比亚私营和公共部门的焦点小组研究的，那里的纳税意愿和相对税收负担很高。这种对公民经历的微观研究侧重于与税收相关的政治实践的感知空间、对税收的影响感以及是否从公民的角度考虑税收。文章表明，税收被归入一个政治领域，缺乏审议和问责机会，但义务观念是税收合规的核心要素。