Tax Relief

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

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

pennies.jpg

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 & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The boutique Australian firm’s TP award recognition proves that world-class advisory services aren’t limited to the ‘big four’, the firm’s founder tells ITR
Canadian and Indian dual VAT models have been a source of inspiration for the Brazilian model, but the latter has unique and innovative features, the OECD paper claimed
More sophisticated use of technology, heightened TP scrutiny and stricter filing requirements are making South African Revenue Service audits a formidable challenge
The hire of Doug Wick expands Baker McKenzie’s state and local tax practice and adds to the firm’s growing ex-IRS expertise
One year after Nuwaru joined the WTS network, leaders James Jobson and Matthew Missaghi reflect on the firm’s mission to offer mid-tier pricing but deliver top-tier results
Join ITR's Head of Research, John Harrison, for an overview of key dates, new developments, best practices, and more for next year’s research cycle
The president’s tariff regime has already caused misery for taxpayers. Losing at the Supreme Court would mean it was all for nothing
The US itself was the biggest loser of tax revenue to American multinationals’ profit shifting, the Tax Justice Network reported; in other news, firms made key tax hires
Identifying who will bear the costs and concerns around confidentiality are issues yet to be resolved, advisers say
As multinationals embed tax technology into their TP functions, a new breed of systems – built on multi-model databases – is quietly transforming intercompany pricing logic
Gift this article