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Tax Relief

Vanity tax

vanity.jpg

After the failed tax, politicians will be hoping to gloss over the incident

A proposed 'vanity tax' in the Philippines has been slapped down after an online campaign urged lawmakers: "#DontTaxMyBeauty".

The country's plan to tax the "multibillion-peso beauty industry" went down as well as a broken nail in a manicurists' parlour, with the beauty industry also railing against the plan. Politicians will be left red-faced (unless they use concealer) after the failed attempt, and feel the whole incident wasn't worth it. Unlike you, dear reader.

Tax Relief is relieved: a lot of shimmer goes into making these pages look so glossy.

It does not make much cents

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Staff counted the pennies by hand because the counting machines kept jamming

A man from Virginia in the United States has paid his tax bill, something most tax administrations are accustomed to dealing with. However, he used 300,000 pennies to do it. His sterling attempt to annoy the department was successful, with staff taking at least several hours to count the five wheelbarrows filled with coins that made up the $3,000 tax bill. The penny pincher told the BBC that he did it as a protest because he wanted government departments to "be more responsive to public inquires". Tax Relief thinks the man has likely put pay to any chance of making it through the next year audit free.

Quotes of the month

"Looks like it's on"

Peter Davidson, social and economic policy analyst, on the corporate tax 'race to the bottom.'

"Full customs union membership prevents us from negotiating our own comprehensive trade deals"

UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who suggested the UK may seek "associate membership" of the EU's customs union.

"Intaxication: [The] nice feeling you get when you receive your tax refund, until you realise it was your own money in the first place #TaxJoke"

US Tax Practice's founder Patrick Evans said via Twitter.
more across site & bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Participants in the consultation on the UN secretary-general’s report into international tax cooperation are divided – some believe UN-led structures are the way forward, while others want to improve existing ones. Ralph Cunningham reports.
The German government unveils plans to implement pillar two, while EY is reportedly still divided over ‘Project Everest’.
With the M&A market booming, ITR has partnered with correspondents from firms around the globe to provide a guide to the deal structures being employed and tax authorities' responses.
Xing Hu, partner at Hui Ye Law Firm in Shanghai, looks at the implications of the US Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act for TP comparability analysis of China.
Karl Berlin talks to Josh White about meeting the Fair Tax standard, the changing burden of country-by-country reporting, and how windfall taxes may hit renewable energy.
Sandy Markwick, head of the Tax Director Network (TDN) at Winmark, looks at the challenges of global mobility for tax management.
Taxpayers should look beyond the headline criteria of the simplification regime to ensure that their arrangements meet the arm’s-length standard, say Alejandro Ces and Mark Seddon of the EY New Zealand transfer pricing team.
In a recent webinar hosted by law firms Greenberg Traurig and Clayton Utz, officials at the IRS and ATO outlined their visions for 2023.
The Asia-Pacific awards research cycle has now begun – don’t miss on this opportunity be recognised in 2023
An intense period of lobbying and persuasion is under way as the UN secretary-general’s report on the future of international tax cooperation begins to take shape. Ralph Cunningham reports.