Taxes explained

[Iain]

Here is the real story to lighten the Budget discussion! You've heard
the cry in the last 5 or 6 days from across Australia: "It's just a tax cut
for the rich!", and it is accepted as fact. But what does that really
mean? The following explanation may help.

Suppose that every night, 10 men go out for dinner at La Porchetta's.
The bill for all 10 comes to $100. They decided to pay their bill the way
we pay our taxes, and it went like this:
* The first four men (the poorest) paid nothing.
* The fifth paid $1.
* The sixth $3.
* The seventh $7.
* The eighth $12.
* The ninth $18.
* The tenth man (the richest) paid $59.

All 10 were quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner
said: "Since you are all such good customers, I'm going to reduce the
cost of your daily meal by $20." So now dinner for the 10 only cost $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. The
first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But how
should the other six, the paying customers, divvy up the $20 windfall so
that everyone would get his "fair share"?

They realised that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted
that from everybody's share, then the fifth and sixth men would each
end up being paid to eat. The restaurateur suggested reducing each man's
bill by roughly the same percentage, thus:
* The fifth man paid nothing (like the first four) instead of $1
(100%saving).
* The sixth paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
* The seventh paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
* The eighth paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
* The ninth paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
* The tenth paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off, and the first four continued to eat for
free, as now did the fifth - but outside the restaurant, the men began
to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He
pointed to the tenth man "but he got $10!"

"That's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar too.
It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back
when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men
surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner. The nine sat
down and ate without him, but when they came to pay the bill, they
discovered that they didn't have enough money between all of them to meet even half of the bill!

That, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, special
interest whingers is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

There are lots of good restaurants in Monaco and the Caribbean.

[Gumby]

I like it. Tried to give you a greeny but I have to spread some more around first. Will you take a rain check ?

[Rusty]

It's a flawed analogy. We are not customers of the govt and a tax cut is not the same as a discount on goods. If the four poor guys washed dishes in the pizza shop and the richest guy was head of a powerful business lobby who happened to have the pizza shop owners ear, it'd be more accurate.

I'm trying hard to feel the rich guy's pain, but...perhaps if the other nine beat him up again I might get a better perspective on it.

And that's the way it is and anyone who disagrees is a whinger? Please.

How about I make my own pizza and the shop owner and his rich mates **** off and leave me alone?

Rusty.

[Iain]

Precisely why I placed it in this forum, too many analogies, cut down the trees to build a sawmill......................................

[Rusty]

I agree, it does belong in the joke forum.

Have a good one,
Rusty.

[scooter]

I like it. Tried to give you a greeny but I have to spread some more around first. Will you take a rain check ?

Lemme guess Gumby, the rain check (cheque in Oz) is in the mail...

Just hope it's not in the missing Melbourne mail...see breaking news...


Cheers.....................Sean the observer of humour

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day Iain, I liked it.


Hey Rusty, what happens if you can't cook pizzas?
I can fix PC's &
I can make things from wood &
I can cook steak on the B-B-Q but
I'm not much good at making pizza.

I get paid the most for fixing PCs so that's what I do best & then I buy my pizzas.

[outback]

I can see why Rusty doesn't like it. It's too close to the truth for his liking. Don't believe me, just ask Rupert.

The only people in this world paying taxes are those making money. I take solice that Kerry and friends have contributed their share when they suck ona crownie, HAhn, Boags or whatever.

[Ashore]

while your on meals three men sit down for a meal
they all put in $10 to pay the bill
waiter takes the thirty checks the bill and it comes to $25 knows they cant split $5 so puts two in his pocket and gives the men $3 change
thus they put out $30 and with change each paid $9 = $27 the waiter kept $2
=$29 where is the other $1 proberly another tax.




The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[Rusty]

I can see why Rusty doesn't like it. It's too close to the truth for his liking.

Rusty doesn't like it for the reasons outlined in Rusty's post. It's propaganda, and the patronising final paragraph that dares the reader to disagree and align themselves with the whingers is a dead giveaway.

The tax issue is being debated by smarter blokes than me in Jack E's thread. However, when I read a smug, condescending piece of tripe like the pizza shop tax system that challenges me to take a side, then I hope I've left no doubt as to which side I'm on.

[outback]

........snip It's propaganda, and the patronising final paragraph that dares the reader to disagree and align themselves with the whingers is a dead giveaway.

.........snip.

and Iains last paragraph reads

There are lots of good restaurants in Monaco and the Caribbean.

Howdy pardner, ya may wanna check yer aim before shootin' ya mouth off next time.

[Rusty]

Mea culpa, Outback, you are obviously correct. However, I reckon I could close my eyes and pull the trigger on this one and still find something worth hitting.

[MathewA]

with all this bloody talk about taxes I'm loosing my appetite for pizza

[Sturdee]

The following explanation may help.

I like it too.

Although a little bit on the simplistic side , bearing in mind that our tax laws and regulations and official determinations and interpretations and legal rulings and court re-interpretations and reviews already number well over 20,000 pages :eek: ( and that is not counting official Board of review determinations ), it has a lot of truth in it.

There is a lot to be said for finding a simpler system of taxation as there is no one in the ATO who has a grasp of it all.


Peter.

[DanP]

I found it amusing.

Lighten up Rusty. There's a lot worse things in life than someone using a joke forum to highlight the irony of the tax system.

Dan