no taxation without obfuscation

From: Damien Broderick (damien@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Mon Jan 18 1999 - 05:29:47 MST


For the amusement of those who find the US tax system labyrinthine and
Wicked, here's something from Australia:

======================

Excerpt from The Sun-Herald - January 17, 1999

"The tax raising legislation, already through the House of Representatives
and now before the Senate, is engagingly called A New Tax System (Goods and
Services Tax) Bill 1998.

Section 165-55 sets out the bizarre powers of Tax Commissioner Michael
Carmody in deciding whether certain tax schemes are taxable income or not.

The bill states: 'For the purposes of making a declaration under this
sub-division, the commissioner may:

'(a) Treat a particular event that actually happened as not having
happened;
and

'(b) Treat a particular event that did not actually happen as having
happened; and

'(c) Treat a particular event that actually happened as:

(i) Having happened at a time different from the time it actually happened;
or

(ii) Having involved particular action by a particular entity (whether or
not the event actually involved any action by that entity.)' "

========================

Damien Broderick



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