Some people believe that they should keep all the money they have earned and should not pay tax to the state. Do you agree or disagree with the above notion?
Sample Response
A group of people think that residents should keep all their earnings and should not have an obligation in paying taxes to the government. I personally disagree with the statement as taxes are useful for the residents and the nation themselves, and the following essay will discuss it in details.
To begin with, it is a fact that taxes are used by the government for developing its nations. Taxes are allocated for various kinds of essential matters. Firstly, they are used for expanding and maintaining public transportation facilities, such expanding roads and highways, and replacing old public transportation units. Secondly, taxes are utilised for providing decent medical services and basic educations for their residents. And last but not least, taxes are also used for funding military services, which is important for maintaining the political stability of a nation.
And then, people should also notice that taxes that they have paid, will also be beneficial for themselves sooner or later. Some of the funds that have been collected by tax authorities are used for retirement funds. It means that in the end people will enjoy and benefit some personal facilities from the government, which are funded from taxes. Therefore people should not keep their earnings to themselves and they should comply in paying their tax duties and obligations.
In conclusion, I do not agree if we should keep all our income and not pay any taxes to the government, as taxes are beneficial for the development of the people and the nation themselves.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Fix verb pattern Original: have an obligation in paying Suggested revision: have an obligation to pay Why it matters: The noun “obligation” is followed by a to-infinitive here.
- 2. Fix purpose phrase Original: the government for developing its nations Suggested revision: the government to develop the nation Why it matters: Use a to-infinitive for purpose and a singular noun for one government’s country.
- 3. Use precise noun Original: various kinds of essential matters Suggested revision: various essential services Why it matters: “Services” accurately names the public provisions listed in the following sentences.
- 4. Complete example phrase Original: such expanding Suggested revision: such as expanding Why it matters: The fixed phrase introducing examples is “such as.”
- 5. Choose natural term Original: old public transportation units Suggested revision: old public transport vehicles Why it matters: “Vehicles” is a more natural term for buses, trains, or similar transport.
- 6. Use uncountable noun Original: educations Suggested revision: education Why it matters: “Education” is uncountable when referring generally to a public service.
- 7. Fix recipient preposition Original: for Suggested revision: to Why it matters: The pattern is “provide something to someone” in this structure.
- 8. Use concise transition Original: And last but not least Suggested revision: Finally Why it matters: A concise sequencing marker fits the formal list more naturally.
- 9. Improve collocation Original: funding military services Suggested revision: funding the military Why it matters: “Funding the military” is the conventional expression for government expenditure.
- 10. Strengthen transition Original: And then Suggested revision: In addition Why it matters: This phrase clearly signals an additional reason rather than a time sequence.
- 11. Remove incorrect comma Original: taxes that they have paid, will Suggested revision: taxes that they have paid will Why it matters: A comma should not separate the subject from its verb.
- 12. Fix pronoun phrase Original: beneficial for themselves Suggested revision: beneficial to them Why it matters: “Beneficial to them” uses the standard preposition and avoids an unnecessary reflexive pronoun.
Suggested Rewrites
- have an obligation in paying have an obligation to pay
- the government for developing its nations the government to develop the nation
- various kinds of essential matters various essential services
- such expanding such as expanding
- old public transportation units old public transport vehicles
- educations education
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response gives a clear, consistent position and supports it with relevant explanations of how taxation funds public services and benefits citizens. Its main limitation is that the ideas remain fairly general, while recurring grammatical and collocational errors reduce precision. The highest-priority improvement is to develop each reason with a specific, well-explained example while using more natural verb–noun combinations and more accurate sentence structures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly answers the question, maintains a clear disagreement, and develops two relevant reasons, though support is sometimes general.
Extend each main reason with a concrete example and explain more precisely how it supports compulsory taxation.
Coherence and Cohesion
The four-paragraph structure and overall progression are clear, but some linking is mechanical and a few references are imprecise.
Use transitions that express the exact logical relationship and reduce formulaic sequencing such as repeated listing markers.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is adequate for the topic and includes some less common items, but inaccurate collocations and word forms recur.
Prioritise natural combinations such as paying taxes, funding services, and benefiting from public provision, while checking countable nouns.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the argument clearly, although agreement, articles, prepositions, and noun forms are often inaccurate.
Edit each sentence for subject–verb agreement, article use, and singular–plural consistency before adding further structural complexity.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people believe that they should keep all the money they have earned and should not pay tax to the state. Do you agree or disagree with the above notion?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.