Text 35934, 48 rader
Skriven 2009-09-11 09:57:18 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 35926 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: Taxes
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Dale Shipp wrote to Robert Bashe on Friday September 11 2009 at 00:59:

WD>>> I will try to settle gratuities cash whenever I can.

RB>>> Doesn't help a bit if the service personnel are taxed on _assumed_
RB>>> income, as was the case in Germany. That's one of the reasons the
RB>>> tax was repealed in the end - it was simply unjust.

DS>> Why unjust?

RB>> Simple. Some get income, others do not - but _all_ are taxed.

DS> I would venture to guess that all get income, many get more than the
DS> assumed amount.  In some cases, the US IRS makes an assumption that
DS> tips are 8% of gross sales if the service people do not report their
DS> tips to their employer.  They probably get more than that 8%.  Normal
DS> tips are 15% and sometimes more.

Maybe at luxury restaurants, but how about McDonalds? But again, maybe people
in the US are more generous than those in Europe.

Just as an aside, I might note that restaurant visits in Germany have declined
greatly since 2002, when the Euro was introduced. At that time, many
restaurants simply converted their prices 1:1, effectively doubling them (the
Euro being worth about _two_ Marks) and as a result saw their customers drop
off precipitously. Restaurant visits haven't recovered even now, although
people now readily accept a 1:1 conversion of DM to Euro in prices (the
inflation from 2002 to the present being around 100% due to the Euro).

I used to go to a restaurant with my wife maybe once a week. Since 2002, we
have been in a restaurant perhaps three times in all. Naturally, the question
of tips is incidental.

DS> For them to hide that income is unjust to everyone else who pays their
DS> fair share on their income.

What is a "fair share" and who are "everyone else"? Tax laws are unjust and
selective by their very nature, and anyone who doesn't try to get the best deal
for himself is a fool.

What people do nowadays is no different from what they did in the Middle Ages,
when they hid wheat and cattle from the tax collectors and went around in rags
to convince the governments that they were poor.

Cheers, Bob

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