There have been some recent media reports which complained about the delays by the wider government service (that is, including the various agencies, etc) in giving back to the citizens what is due to them.

Various cases were mentioned, such as Income Tax or VAT refunds, refunds on inheritance taxes, refunds on promises of sale that fell through, etc.

In many cases, the delays to pay back the money amounts to hardship for the citizens.

Yet, if the citizen owes anything to the government, the citizen is faced with fines and interest payments which add up to the sum of money that is owed.

There is a basic unfairness in this and this must be redressed. It is right for the government to expect to be paid promptly on what is due to it. But then the government must allow citizens to get what is due to them from the same government that is so exigent in demanding its due.

It is right for the government to count every penny that it spends as deficits can easily be created without anybody noticing and then  it gets very difficult to bring the deficit under control.

The present government has been admirable in the way it has succeeded in bringing the deficit down to levels once thought impossible to achieve.

But this reduction in the deficit must be brought about by sustainable means, not by delaying payments that should have been made.

One is tempted to claim for the citizens the right to fine the government for delays in payments just as the government claims the right to fine the citizens for delays in payment. Two can play at a game.

Ordinary, law-abiding citizens, who pay their taxes, who try to overcome the many difficulties one faces in business, who borrow from a bank and pay interest, who pay for whatever service they require, expect exactly the same behavior from the government as it expects from them.

However, many times they do not get this same service. They are thus pushed to find ways, some maybe illegal, how to get even. This is the beginning of a vicious circle that knows no bounds. Then the government, trying to block the illegality, introduces more and more checks and so the citizens end up shouldering an even heavier burden than they should have to.

It is unfortunate to note that the government system, regardless of the party in government, has been so used to his state of affairs that it thinks it is completely normal. This puts it, the government, in a state of a bully who just because he is stronger, thinks he can do what he likes with the weaker citizens.

This is what ultimately leads to the creation and the growth of a black economy when economic activity gets driven underground and systems which should be there to protect the weak get undermined by the illegality of a large swath of the economy.