Black tax: To pay or not to pay? That's the question

Simply put, “black tax” is the financial support for your siblings or extended family, mostly in Africa and the diaspora.

It could be school fees, accommodation, emergencies, food or any other assistance. It is seen as a cultural obligation. You are your brother’s or sister’s keeper. 

I never heard of the black tax when growing up. But it was there, and I paid it. It is not really a tax but behaves like one.

There is no enforceability beyond guilt and, in some cases, the spectre of parental curses and blessings. I guess there is a “white tax” with less stigma. 

Our generation, the millennials, understands the black tax too well. We were never bothered by it; it was an honour and a bit of heroism.

Gen Z might call it misplaced heroism. Yet they are likely to be beneficiaries of this tax. Just check you got into your privileged position, and if possible, go beyond your parents.  We paid the black tax as students; let alone when working, we paid school fees and for other services for our siblings and, at times, relatives. 

When I hear of the black tax, my head spins, more so after a late-life conversion to economics.  Let’s be honest. Our parents had many children (and wives). Any keen observer will note that it is a stage of cultural and economic transformation.

When I lived in America’s Deep South and was driven by my curiosity, I noted most Americans’ (and other nationalities’) grandparents had large families in the earlier generations.

Birth control was rare, and religion was strong. By coincidence, food was plentiful. By the time we were born, there were already many children.

We had to make a hard choice: take care of the siblings and pay the black tax or let nature take its course. Remember, we have no welfare system in Kenya. The lucky few (read educated) and employed were on welfare. 

We paid the black tax not so much out of cultural or religious obligation, but it made economic sense in the long run.

We realised we had to break the vicious cycle of poverty. And for many, it paid off handsomely. It is not unusual to find a home with 10 children, and they are all graduates and formerly employed.

The signings paid school fees for each. Think of all of them left uneducated, marrying earlier and begetting their own children.  

The fear among Gen Z is that you will remain poor by paying the black tax. Has the government’s tax bankrupted you? Luckily, systems worked in the past and reduced the burden of the black tax. The government made it easy to go through the university; that is how we used our “boom” to pay for our siblings’ education.

With the current system, the black tax can now be hefty. I keep wondering why funding university education should be an issue when the current leaders, including cabinet ministers, went through a system that worked, ensuring no one was left behind.  

We should be thanking the Black taxpayers. They should be among the national heroes. Without the black tax paid by older siblings, uncles and other relatives, many of the prominent men and women today would have been stuck in life.

I am both a beneficiary of the black tax and someone who has paid it. By the way, why don’t we equate Harambees to the black tax if we are sincere?  

Let us be blunt: the black tax is often less than the corporate tax or income tax. We do not even know who benefits from our taxes; some of it is even stolen.

Yet we make fun of men and women who help people they know and see them succeed in life. The few thankless siblings or relatives don’t invalidate the benefits of the black tax.  

Black tax makes economic sense. It long made cultural sense. We often form lifelong bonds with those we help. Why the disdain? 

One is the Western influence. We have come to learn to be individualistic, even when it’s not necessary! That, coupled with selfishness, makes the black tax an easy target for TikTok jokes. Add the decline of religious influence; ignore what happens in public forums.  

Why is the black tax an issue now when there are fewer siblings to take care of? No wonder the focus now is on parents.  Gen Z and their supporters feel they have no obligation to take care of their parents in old age. They wonder why they did not plan for that eventuality. The hard reality is that they could not; they had no resources. How could they save what they did not have?  

In addition, they were investing in their children to take care of them and never envisaged any neglect. They invested all they could. 

The reward is being accused of not jipangaaring (lack of planning). We can’t rule out a few unthankful parents and siblings. But we do not burn a house to kill rats.  

The men and women demonising the black tax are doing so from their comfort zones. They don’t understand or pretend not to understand the cultural and economic reality their parents faced. 

They also forget that helping someone has never made anyone poor. In fact, such small acts make someone more responsible and focused. And nothing is more satisfying than seeing others succeed, and possibly across generations. 

Do your research and investigate who is better off economically, those who paid the black tax or those who never did. Black tax opponents feel the tax denies them the full benefits of their hard-earned money. Their money is their money to enjoy and invest.

In the fullness of time, it will dawn on them that money is not everything, and other people add meaning and purpose to our lives, and they don’t need to be your close-knit friends. 

We are all eager to see if the black tax demonisers will be richer and happier than the black taxpayers. The black tax demonisers are also hypocritical; they are willing to donate to charity and their friends (add the church).

But not their families. That makes me suspect that opponents of the black tax do not want competition; they want all money on their side. Guess who they are, influencing the new thinking on the black tax from the periphery.  

The black tax and traditional families have been the bedrock of our African societies and their success. Now they are under attack with no clear and better alternatives.

We should not just embrace something because it’s new and sexy. The context matters.

It’s obvious that as families become smaller and systems of savings and welfare, including pensions, improve and mature, black tax will die, like many other cultural practices. 

Why can’t we be patient and stop hiding our selfishness?