Great story here that sums up how the tax system in the UK works :
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.
'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beers by £20. Drinks for the ten 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 realized 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 roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid £2 instead of £3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay £5 instead of £7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid £9 instead of £12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid £14 instead of £18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid £49 instead of £59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free, but once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a pound out of the £20," 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 than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get £10 back when I got only two? 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 drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important....
they didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, 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 anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas.
This also explains why a few of the folks on here drink a lot in North Africa! The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom
Founder member of Club FFRRV
Club Orange, Mint or Fruit
Club Walnut Sniffers
Would he change anything if he did ?
"I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you read is not what I meant"
Problem with driving a FFRR is that the D3 forum gets a bit less attention than it used to............ The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom
Founder member of Club FFRRV
Club Orange, Mint or Fruit
Club Walnut Sniffers
27th Apr 2009 2:35 pm
Hassle
Member Since: 19 Nov 2008
Location: Sleaford
Posts: 723
NHR wrote:
Excellent - has Gordon Brown seen it
Why are you going to beat him up and hope he goes elsewhere
27th Apr 2009 3:15 pm
Dom Harvey Lord of the Four Fingers
Member Since: 15 Apr 2005
Location: Dorset
Posts: 7454
Hassle wrote:
Why are you going to beat him up and hope he goes elsewhere
We should be so lucky 2004 Discovery 3 - gone
2006 Discovery 3 - gone
2008 Discovery 3 GS - gone
2011 Freelander LE Special Edition - gone
2007 Discovery 3 XS - gone
2012 Discovery 4 GS - current
27th Apr 2009 3:47 pm
stapldm
Member Since: 11 Sep 2006
Location: Swine Town
Posts: 2330
JMC wrote:
Problem with driving a FFRR is that the D3 forum gets a bit less attention than it used to............
Is that other forum taking that much of your time? I imagined you all sitting there like an Eskimo fishing over a snowhole waiting for hours on end for that flutter of that tiny feather to say a post had been made... Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Transgenic tomato anyone?
27th Apr 2009 3:58 pm
Berlin Warrior
Member Since: 29 Nov 2007
Location: Berlin
Posts: 263
CG wrote:
Would he change anything if he did ?
Price of beer would go up..........Knowledge & Reason - the arch enemy of faith
MY2008, Java Black TDV6 HSE, Alpaca with straight grain Wood, 19" alloys, fully loaded with all the toys
Is that other forum taking that much of your time?
I wish
I just don't post here so much as I feel I'm here out of your collective sympathy rather than my divine right........... The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom
Founder member of Club FFRRV
Club Orange, Mint or Fruit
Club Walnut Sniffers
C'mon, you know we love you really. splitterI know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
27th Apr 2009 6:02 pm
SJR
Member Since: 09 Aug 2006
Location: East Manchester
Posts: 4030
JMC
Your welcome here because as an acknowledged petrolhead you have probably found out more about the D3 that you owned than most others, and can therefore make a posiitve contribution to the discussions
And because we don't know of anyone else with a FFRR(V) to take the mickey out of or be jealous of I believe that every human has a finite number of heart-beats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.
Buzz Aldrin (1930 -
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