Ste
Premium Member
Registered: 5th Mar 03
Location: Taif, Saudi Arabia
User status: Offline
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Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100...
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this...
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay £1.
The sixth would pay £3.
The seventh would pay £7..
The eighth would pay £12.
The ninth would pay £18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay £59.
So, that's what they decided to do..
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by £20". Drinks for the ten men would now cost just £80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected.
They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men?
The paying customers? How could they divide 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 man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.
And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
The sixth now paid £2 instead of £3 (33% saving).
The seventh now paid £5 instead of £7 (28% saving).
The eighth now paid £9 instead of £12 (25% saving).
The ninth now paid £14 instead of £18 (22% saving).
The tenth now paid £49 instead of £59 (16% saving).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a pound out of the £20 saving," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,"but he got £10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a pound too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit 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. This new tax 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 drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works.
The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction.
Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore.
In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
I would rather lose by a mile because i built my own car, than win by an inch because someone else built it for me.
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deano87
Member
Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
User status: Offline
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 even I understood that. Tax for simpletons.
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Gary
Premium Member
Registered: 22nd Nov 06
Location: West Yorkshire
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I like beer
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Tomnova16
Premium Member
Registered: 21st Jan 06
Location: Gerrards Cross Drives: Porsche 911
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http://www.lemass.co.uk/ for all your automotive/bodyshop needs
Located in Chalfont st Peter
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Ben G
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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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I got bored after the first line.
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mwg
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Registered: 19th Feb 04
Location: South Lakes
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It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, you can still be an alcoholic
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Hammer
Member
Registered: 11th Feb 04
User status: Offline
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Sounds like something a clever rich person would type.
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Ryan
Member
Registered: 23rd Jun 08
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So basically don't vote Labour or Liberal.
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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very old but quite right too.
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SVM 286
Member
Registered: 13th Feb 05
Location: pain
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Hammer
Sounds like something a clever rich person would type.
In their tax haven.
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SVM 286
Member
Registered: 13th Feb 05
Location: pain
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ryan
So basically don't vote Labour or Liberal.
or tory
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Paul_J
Member
Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ben G
I got bored after the first line.
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micra_pete
Premium Member
Registered: 23rd Apr 03
Location: West Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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I read this a while ago on an american website.
Our tax brackets are different.
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micra_pete
Premium Member
Registered: 23rd Apr 03
Location: West Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Also, they wont move overseas, because anywhere that you would want to live has high tax rates. I dont fancy mexico or africa to work.
So you deal with with it, keep your friends, go to the golf club and enjoy your high wage.
Just dont mix with the lower classes as they will beat you up.
[Edited on 22-10-2013 by micra_pete]
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