This is the 5457th most frequent Russian word.
платят
"(they) pay"
The word 'платят' is the third-person plural form of the verb 'платить,' meaning 'to pay.' It is used here to indicate that workers are the subject responsible for the action of paying taxes timely.
Работники платят налоги в срок.
Employees pay taxes on time.
In this sentence, 'платят' conveys the action of providing payment for services, and the context specifies the subset of individuals, wealthy clients, performing this action.
За эти услуги платят только состоятельные клиенты.
Only wealthy clients pay for these services.
Here, 'платят' forms part of a question, asking whether students are the ones providing payment for course materials.