Chris Brewer says!

[wynn]

HANDS UP EVERYONE WHO PAYS THEIR INCOME TAX
How do you get a prostitute to pay tax on the money she makes?



Well, it’s actually not as difficult as it seems. While the rest of us (actually we’re a very small percentage) are being screwed by the taxman she (or he) is doing it the other way round.*



And that bloke selling illegal fags on the street corner? I bet he’s not paying any tax either.



In fact, just about everybody dealing in cash probably “forgets” to mention most of their income.



And I’m not giving into temptation by starting a rant about those bastards who make a fortune out of showing people how to avoid paying tax. What I will say is that they should all be locked in a room with Jeremy Clarkson and forced to listen to him speak his mindless drivel endlessly for 24 hours a day.



South Africa relies far too much on the few of us who DO pay. They may be trying to expand the number but that idea will also fail – because income tax is so easy to avoid. The numbers vary but, essentially, out of around 18 million people who work only about 5 million pay income tax.

Even if this gap were closed significantly it’s an inherently bad idea for any government to promise a wealthy country in exchange for increasing amounts of taxation on income.



As Winston Churchill famously said: “A nation trying to tax itself into prosperity is rather like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the bucket handle.”



But the solution is SO simple that I’m amazed it hasn’t been done before.



So, for all those politicians reading this (I know you do because Brewers Droop has been mentioned in Parliamentary debates before) just repeat the following words several times a day until the idea finally sinks in.



Ready?



Abolish ALL earning tax (PAYE) and increase spending tax (VAT).


Then EVERY person will be paying tax to the government and its coffers will fill very quickly. The reason is simple – it’s a million times more difficult to fiddle VAT than PAYE.



Of course some items will be zero rated (like bread) but VAT on a new Merc will be 100% (and car dealers mustn’t worry because sales will go up! A high-earning person not paying income tax will have loads of cash to spare).



You don’t have to thank or reward me, it’s my gift to all mankind.