Ja: How about instituting a flat tax instead?

Politicians have yet to learn that people are more likely to pay taxes when their tax burden is not onerous. Tax reform, along the lines of a 13% flat tax all across the board and a cut in corporate taxes will go a long way towards addressing the tax evasion problem faced by so many countries, especially Caribbean ones. Revenues flow into the treasury because there will be little to no incentive for businesses and individuals to hide income from the government. Moreover, the increase in revenue from tax collection will be such that other petty and burdensome taxes, such as property tax, can be lowered or dispensed with. Ask Russia about the impact of its 13% flat tax on revenue collection and economic vitality. The Russian economy boomed by 10% since 2001! Better yet, look towards Hong Kong, which has had a flat tax for 50 years and has never had to go to the IMF to have ruinous economic policies imposed.

As long as politicians continue to see the populace as a bottomless wallet, they'll continue to have problems collecting taxes. If politicians were to practise fiscal restraint and stop mismanaging people's money as they do not their own; if taxes rates were reasonable and low; if politicians treated all citizens equally, without regard to wealth or status, then citizens would pay their taxes, grudgingly, to be true, but they'd pay nevertheless.

To expect a politician to understand this simple economic truth, though, might be too much.