Tax freedom Day 2016

http://www.meetup.com/Jhb-Libertarian-minded-meetup/events/231073215/

Tax Freedom Day: South Africa

Tax Freedom Day is a measure of how much of the year we need to work to be able to pay for government expenditure. In South Africa, in 2016, since general government revenue is predicted to be 39.3% of South Africa's GDP, we could dedicate the first 39.3% of the year working for the government, and the rest of the year working to pay for our other expenses. So, Tax Freedom Day in 2016 in South Africa is May 25 2016. (Source - Free Market Foundation) Tax Freedom Day is a fun way to think about government spending - obviously we don't save all our money from the beginning of the year in order to be able to pay for all the things government buys with our tax money, but if we did, we'd have to save from 1 January until 25 May in 2016 - 5 days longer than we'd have to save in 2015. On Tax Freedom Day, May 25 2016, we have an opportunity to consider and contemplate the role of government in our lives. We're paying for government service delivery through many different kinds of taxes, it makes sense that we should spend some time thinking about whether we are getting value for money, and how we could improve. As citizens, we have a duty to ensure that the government we have is efficient, effective,responsible, and accountable. We need to be able to answer some difficult questions, such as: Is the government taking too much of our money as tax? Or too little? Are there better things we could do with some of the money rather than give it to the government to spend? Is the government using our money effectively? Are the programs created by the government worth their cost? Could we achieve the same results with less spending? Could we achieve better results with the same spending if the programs were better designed? What should the government do more of? What should the government do less of? How could we better address the problem of government corruption? How could we better address the problem of government waste? Are there things the government does that add no benefit, which we should not be doing? Is there anything the government does that would be done better if they were done by the people themselves? The government will take your first 145 days of work in 2016, in the form of hundreds of different taxes spread out across the year. Maybe this is justifiable, and maybe not. If we are getting value for money, in terms of the various services, such as financial aid and policing, then maybe the government is doing a good job with our tax money, and should take more of it. Or maybe we could be achieving better results privately, as individuals and communities, without quite as much tax money being spent on waste or corruption or just poorly thought out and executed plans. As responsible and engaged citizens, we should be able to answer these questions. This is an invitation for you to join the conversation. On May 25 2016, let's take a few moments to seriously consider these issues. Please, join us, and make your voice heard. You can participate in any way you feel comfortable: Talk about these questions with colleagues, friends, and family Share your suggestions on Facebook and Twitter with #TaxFreedomDay Write a letter to your favourite newspaper's editor We need to have a serious conversation about these questions. Understanding the problem is a first step to fixing the problem. At the end of the day, you are welcome to join us for a wrap up of the day: Date: 25 May 2016 Place: Fratelli's in Ferndale (http://www.fratelliferndale.co.za/) Time: 7 PM RSVP through http://www.meetup.com/Jhb-Libertarian-minded-meetup/ Colin Philips

REDUCING TAX, BENEFITS THE WEALTHY>

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.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible

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Tax - a short article

http://trainingineconomics.blogspot.com/p/taxes.html

Same old story - still some don't get it.

http://marcodenouden.com/politics/taxationistheft.htm

Where does SA Tax come from?

Personal Tax 35%

Company Tax 20%

VAT 25%

Other 20%

83% of tax is paid by 10% of the taxpayers.

Hoe om aan kinders te verduidelik hoekom belastingontduiking nie ‘n sleg idee is nie.

Greon het ‘n Groenappelboom

Roi het ‘n Rooiappelboom.

Die groenappelboom het 100 groenappels.

Die rooiappelboom het 20 rooiappels.

Toe die appels mooi ryp is, sê Greon vir Roi – “Ek ruil een groenappel vir een van jou rooi appels. Hulle se dis gaaf – kom ons maak so.

Hulle ruil een appel vir een appel. Hulle is albei gelukkig. Greon is gelukkig want hy is al ‘n bietje moeg om net groenappels te eet – Die rooiappel wat hy nou aan smul is lekker soet.

Roi is gelukkig want hy is al ‘n bietje moeg om net rooiappels te eet – Die groenappel wat hy nou aan hap is het ‘n lekker smaak…hy is al ‘n bietjie moeg vir al die soet.

‘n Dag of twee gaan verby.

Greon sê vir Roi – “Ek is weer lus vir een van jou rooiappels. Ek gee vir jou een van my rooi appels vir een van jou groenes. Roi se – dis ‘n bietjie van ‘n probleem vir my ek het nie meer so baie appels nie. Hoekom gee jy nie vir my drie van jou groenes vir ‘n rooie nie. Greon se dis gaaf, ek het baie appels – kom ons maak so.

Hulle ruil drie rooiappels vir een groenappappel. Hulle is albei gelukkig. Roi is gelukkig want hy het nou drie appels vir sy een appel gekry.

Greon is gelukkig want hy het baie groenappels – hy kan nie voorbly om hulle te eet soos hulle ryp word nie en die rooiappel is darem al te lekker soet.

Net toe hulle die ruiltransaksie aangaan kom Rekkon die dorp se belastingman verbygestap. “Wat gaan hier aan?” vra hy. Nee, ons ruil maar net ‘n paar appels – wil jy ‘n stukkie he. “Ja, gee – ek is honger” se hy. Roi en Greon gee vir hom elk ‘n halwe appel - Roi gee vir hom 'n halwe groenappel en Greon gee vir hom 'n halwe rooi appel. Hulle verduidelik aan hom hoe hul transksies tot dusver verloop het.

Rekkon sê toe: “Greon jy is seker nou ‘n bietje suur omdat die rooiappels duurder geword in terme van die groen appels – ‘n mens moet nou meer groenappels gee om dieselfde hoeveelheid rooiappels te bekom”

Greon antwoord: “Nee, ek is maar te bly om nog rooiappels te kan kry want blykbaar raak hulle ‘n bietjie skaars. Ek is gelukkig met die transaksie. Een rooiappel is vir my meer werd as drie groenappels”

Hy voeg toe by “Maar ek is nou nie meer so gelukkig as wat ek was voordat jy hier aangekom het nie want ek het een hele appel gehad vir my drie appels en nou het ek net ‘n halwe appel vir my drie appels – maar dit maak nie saak nie – honger mense moet ook ietsie kry” se hy gemaak grappenderwys. Hy dink by homself – ‘n halwe rooiappel is amper nie drie groenappels werd nie, dis hoekom ‘n mens maar transksies moet doen waar Rekkon jou nie kan sien nie… as Rekkon elke keer by is sal hy ses groen appels moet gee om een rooi appel vir homself te kry!

Wil iemand nie die storie opvoer as 'n "youtube" video nie!?