If you thought it was il calcio [football] think again! The national sport in Italy is avoiding taxes, as sneaky ones appear out of nowhere all the time. Italians justify this "game" of avoidance by explaining that it's all the State's fault for "robbing" them in the first place and the tax system is discussed, moaned about and decried over coffee in bars throughout the land. It's not uncommon for a shopkeeper or service provider to give you a receipt for less than you have paid and when you settle the bill in a bar or restaurant, you must always make sure you are given a proper receipt [ricevuta fiscale] because by law you must keep this until you are 300 metres away from the establishment. Whilst you walk this distance, you could be stopped by police asking to see it. This is less a check on whether you have paid than a check on whether the bar owner has charged you tax, but if he / she has not, you could both be fined!
The country that invented banking has turned it into a complicated and expensive process: I am charged for every single bank transaction and there is a state tax to pay on my account too, besides the annual charge which the bank levies for the privilege of having an account. I understand that the average charge is somewhere in the region of €640 per annum, so I am not going to be a happy bunny when I receive this notification! [I haven't had my Italian bank account for quite a year.] But it seems my days of thinking with nostalgia of free banking in Britain may be numbered as I was astounded to read this yesterday.
10 comments:
It is interesting you posted on this Welshcakes, very interesting.
You'll see why later, but I'm wondering if you aren't telepathic.
Hi, Crushed. Just read your great post and see what you mean now!
the bank, AND the taxes! I do think I might have a little fainting spell at about 300 yards...
Now, there's an idea, Lady M!
Boy! Oh! Boy! No wonder banks make billions of dollars profit annually...all from our money! I rang my bank the other day as I almost had a heart attack over a charge I thought was totally unwarranted. They are going to refund half of it to me! I do most of my bill paying and banking by Internet banking and I thought this was the cheapest way...but the banks get you coming and going...there is no escape from their greedy clutches!
Render unto Prodi all things which are Prodi's but bank what's left over from Mafia extortion in an account in Switzerland
Avoiding tax - the sport of the entire world, methinks. The idea of the 300 metres is kind of sweet.
My poor stocks have taken a bite lately, too. I guess I'd better get in receipt saving mode before going over to Sicily....
BTW-I actually posted a video to my blog, what a feat. It's at Jewell Lake in north Idaho.
Australia taxes bank transactions too. In Canada we get nickeled and dimed by other bank charges instead, unless you are an old lady so I get away with it. Although we do have to pay GST (Goods and services tax, federal) on cheques and safety deposit boxes. Not transactions yet!
Lee, well done for getting half of it back! You're right - they have us all ways. Very succinctly put, WW! James, I suppose it is, really - but I still think in yards! Pink, yes, remember to keep receipts when you're here! Well doe for posting the video - coming to have a look. Glad you get away with at least some of it, jmb!
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