The Tax System - Explained With Beer - NF or Hockey

[silveradosheriff]

The Tax System - Explained With Beer

 

 

 

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten

 

comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it

 

would go something like this:

 

 

 

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

 

The fifth would pay $1.

 

The sixth would pay $3.

 

The seventh would pay $7.

 

The eighth would pay $12.

 

The ninth would pay $18.

 

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

 

 

 

So, that's what they decided to do.

 

 

 

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the

 

arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

 

"Sinceyou are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce

 

the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just

 

$80.

 

 

 

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the

 

first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

 

But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they

 

divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

 

 

 

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted

 

that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would

 

each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested

 

that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same

 

amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

 

 

 

And so:

 

 

 

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

 

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).

 

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).

 

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 ( 25% savings).

 

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).

 

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

 

 

 

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued

 

to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began

 

tocompare their savings.

 

 

 

"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed

 

to the tenth man," but he got $10!"

 

 

 

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar,

 

too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

 

 

 

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back

 

when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

 

 

 

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get

 

anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

 

 

 

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

 

 

 

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat

 

down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill,

 

they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money

 

between all of them for even half of the bill!

 

 

 

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our

 

tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most

 

benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being

 

wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might

 

start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

[kemper]

that makes so much sense it cant possibly be about our tax system...

 

haha

[tonyb]

Wow...I need a beer