IELTS: Citizen's responsibilities

Topic: Some people think that paying taxes is enough to contribute to the society. Others argue that being a citizen involves more responsibilities. Discuss, what is your opinion?

There is a controversial debate around the world about the duties of citizen. Some people believe that paying tax is the only responsibility of citizens, while others disagree and think that being a person in society involves more responsibilities.

Taxes are the income for every country in the world and they are extremely important for developing countries. If people are paying taxes, that means they are taking part in the development of their country as well as the country's economy. Therefore, they have fulfilled their duty as a citizen.

Some people argue that individuals of a country are responsible for many other things apart from paying tax. In fact, in order to develop a country, citizens must obey laws, which were imposed by the government. In this way, the crime rate is reduced and society becomes a peaceful place, so the country will develop at a rapid pace. Furthermore, being a citizen in society should protect the country's culture and history. For instance, people should have knowledge about their own culture and history by studying at school with full concentration or reading them from books. On the other hand, a person has to unite with other people in the community so as to develop their nation. Indeed, if people in society have a strong bond with each other, society will become a peaceful place, where people are helping and sharing to each other.

Taking everything into account, I strongly believe that being a citizen involves in a number of duties, other than paying taxes. People in society must do more than paying taxes to contribute to their society.

I appreciate all advice and correction. Thank you in advance.

Morning there. Perhaps adding some examples to each points will make your essay more convincing. Such as when you are mentioning about that tax is a source of income for a country, you can add a example to further support your point. One good example will be Singapore. Small countries such as Singapore has no natural resources such as oil, and due to the limited land space, argiculture would be almost impossible. Hence, the only source of revenue for the country would be the taxes collected from its citizens.

And about the other responsibilites, perhaps you could add this individuals social responsibility. One should keep his country clean by not being a litter bug. Or one should not be completely reliant on the government for healthcare( You can bring in Britain if you do know about the Nation Healthcare Scheme and the possible problems it might cause ).

I hope it helps :)

Well this is my idea (Brainstorming)[/b]

[b]Paragraph 1
i would argue that being a citizen has more responsibilities just paying tax

Paragraph 2
Benefit for just paying taxes
- Simple, we as citizens should receive benefits due to we pay the tax
- The Government has responsibility to its own citizens
- We don't have resources to improve our nations

Paragraph 3
Paying taxes is not enough
- we should take care our countries (give one or two examples)
- Paying taxes should not be considered as a contribution but an obligation
- Improvement in our countries might leads to better life so we should give more contribution.

Paragraph 4
Conclusion
Give your opinion (combine paragraph 1 and 3)

Hi Scientiana,

I think the stance of paragraph 2 is not strong enough. You can either elaborate or use an opposing point to strengthen your argument. Besides, you could switch the second and third paragraph, as it will be a little bit more convincing for me. :)

You should try to strengthen your 2nd paragraph. Add examples to convince the readers....otherwise its a nice work