We like to complain (and for good reason) about the litany of taxes imposed on us by various levels of government, but this post on Neatorama details some bizarre taxes through history that make current ones seem tame. Peter the Great, czar of Russia, imposed a tax on souls in 1718…meaning everybody had to pay [...]

More →

This recent post on the SME Blog talks about the recent changes the UK has made to VAT, in that they are now offering small businesses the ability to account for and remit VAT on a cash basis, rather than accrual: The VAT cash accounting scheme allows you to account for VAT (output tax) on [...]

More →

Tax is a subject that is near and dear to my heart, but not because I occasionally fill out a tax return. Tax theory is fascinating and relevant stuff, but I won’t ask you to take my word for it. I think the reason why I like tax theory but hate applying tax law, is [...]

More →

David Dodge, the governor of the Bank of Canada and the current architect of our monetary policy, suggested the province of Ontario should revamp the provincial sales tax (PST) to more closely resemble the value-added federal GST in a rare appearance before the Commons industry committee. The suggestion is a solid one, as it would [...]

More →

The Tax Foundation‘s Tax Policy Blog has an interesting post concerning a report produced by something called the (US) Congressional Research Service. The report investigates the possibility of a flat tax in simplifying the tax code and concludes that the existence of a progressive system isn’t what is making things complicated at all. I’ve already [...]

More →