sheftali52

Polenta, I see the result of the 29 November runoff election in your country was Jose Mujica winning the presidency? Is that good for Uruguay? And, how long is the president's term?

polenta

I see it as good since it was 53% of the citizens who voted for him. This is democracy, Jose Mujica was voted by the majority. He is 75 years old and will be 80 at the end of his administration. Of course the majority should rule but there should be GREAT RESPECT FOR THE MINORITY OR MINORITIES.
He used to be an urban guerrilla man 40 years ago and served a sentence in prison but ever since he got out of prison 25 years ago, they turned into a legal political party and many people believe in him as the elections show it.
He and his wife live on a farm and his way of living is very lower middle-class. It seems people feel identified with this kind of guy.
So far he's always been very careful to make political opponents feel quite respected. I HOPE IT IS LIKE THIS DURING ALL HIS TERM IN OFFICE.

polenta

I've just remembered something he said about himself: NOW I'VE BECOME A VEGETARIAN LION.

sheftali52

Polenta, thanks for your comments on your new President. I agree that there should be respect for the minority or minorities. The most successful leaders (in government or private life) seem to operate with a healthy dose of respect and humility. The comment about becoming a vegetarian lion seems a little odd. I hope he respects meat eaters! (a little humor!) Are there term limits for Presidents in Uruguay?

polenta

Of course there are limits. He will be in office for five years and can't be reelected with the current constitution. I also told you that he will be 80 when his administration finishes so he'll be too old.
I think that what he meant is that he used to be guerrilla man ( a lion) but he now accepts the rules of democracy and rulers only chosen by the people and has become a vegetarian. A vegetarian lion is
in itself an oxymoron or a contradiction, isn't it?
He's been in politics for 25 years and always legally and now he's been chosen.... whether the people were right or wrong. This is one of the things of democracy. Voters can be wrong when they vote.... because the chosen rulers are not the BEST, they are the ones the people have chosen.
I think the 53% who voted for him believe he is democratic and respectful of the constitution even if 47% don't like him. Even in my own family half liked him and half disliked him. LOL
Thanks Sheftali for all your interest.

sheftali52

lol polenta--yes, a vegetarian lion is indeed a contradiction. What is the tax situation in Uruguay--do you pay in income tax and other taxes as well? I appreciate your inputs.

polenta

Everything you buy includes an IVA tax (added value tax). Apart from that there is a personal income tax but they say it's only paid by a minority of the citizens because they don't earn enough and don't have to pay personal direct taxes. It would be good if everyone paid personal taxes because that would mean people earn very good salaries!!!!
Of course companies also pay taxes on their profits (don't know much about it personally).
Individual people can also have other taxes: one we call PATRIMONIO which is a tax you pay on the real estate property, cars, etc that you own but again only a minority pays because your assets should be above average to be taxed.
There are other taxes like what you pay for every house you own but this is not a national tax and is theoretically used to pay for the maintenance of your local roads and streets, your city hall etc.
There is another tax called PRIMARIA (a tax on any house owner)which is used entirely for public primary schools, for school buildings , lunch for many children, etc. This is a tax I've never heard anyone complain about because it's for our children and we can see the results.
I don't really know much about taxation... an accountant should know much more.

What happens in US Sheftali?

Dragon

Sounds similar to Canada. We have the GST (Goods and Services Tax) which adds an extra 5% to almost anything you buy. Almost all the provinces have their own addition PST (Provincial Sales Tax) the percentage of that is determined by the gov't of the province (my province Alberta has none)
We also pay Income Tax yearly but pretty much anyone with a job pay this, there are very few working people who don't make enough to have to do a tax form every year but some will get a refund instead of having to pay.
We have property taxes as well, I've never been a home owner so I'm not really sure how much they are but that all depends on where you live anyway, and I think there are some municipal taxes in there as well but they may all be wrapped up in one.

Login

In UK we have VAT which is a tax of 17.5% on goods and services. The majority pay Income Tax, with very few who escape it. Then there is Land Tax on the purchase of property ... also Capital Gains Tax when you sell anything, other than the home you live in, for a profit. Another way of raking money into the Treasury is to tax our 'wealth' when we die ... if we own a home or anything of value, savings etcetera, tax is paid by those who inherit it. The British press claim that we are one of the highest taxed nations in the world.

polenta

Here the VAT tax on anything you buy is much higher. It's 22% !!!!!!!!
Personal income tax was implemented about 3 or 4 years ago and that's why they are planning to lessen the VAT tax.
They say there is much more justice if those who earn more, pay more. The VAT tax is general, rich and poor pay alike. Individual people here are not accustomed to go to the DGI or Internal Revenue Service and calculate their taxes. We just bought things and the tax was included... some people disliked the fact you must have an accountant or expert. Luckily the tax is discounted from your salary directly.... Everybody dislikes red tape and going to offices etc especially when there was no such culture.... but.... that's the way it is.

Dragon

Holy crow, and to think of how Canadians whined when the 7% GST tax was introduced! (It's since been reduced to 5% in the last couple of years) we get off easy when you see numbers like 17.5% and 22%.

During tax time a lot of people use the experts but now there are computer programs like QuickTax and they're usually cheaper than using someone like H&R Block so most people use them. I have a friend who used to work for the company that writes the tax software so when tax time got close all the employees got to take home as many disks as they wanted (within reason) so all his family and friends always had free tax software.

polenta

Of course you should be happy with 5% VAT. I think we have such a high VAT tax because there was not income tax until 3 years ago and the government took most of the money from the VAT.
Changing from not having personal income taxes to having them takes quite a time to adjust your customs. Of course I see how computer software helps.
What a BEAUTIFUL world it would be if there were NO TAXES!!!!!!
Getting all the services free!!!!
Dreaming is free after all!!!

Dragon

What does VAT stand for anyway? Very Annoying Tax perhaps?

polenta

very annoying tax!!! LOL LOL LOL
In Spanish it's IVA it's the VALUE ADDED TAX. It's the tax you pay any time you buy something. It's the tax to consumption.

sheftali52

Taxes always seem to stimulate a lot of emotion! Here in the US, we pay federal and state income taxes in general, and real estate taxes if we own a house, capital gains taxes if we sell a house or stocks, estate taxes when we die, sales taxes on what we purchase (to include food in restaurants in some places), personal property taxes on cars, boats, motor homes, and a whole host of taxes I probably don't know much about. The problem in the US (and perhaps everywhere else) is that our tax code is so huge and no one understands it, and people spend a lot of time and money trying to avoid paying taxes. Sheftali has become a proponent of what some call the Fair Tax, which does away with virtually all of our federal taxes and replaces them with one tax that is included in everything new that we buy. Supposedly such a concept provides our government with at least the current rate of taxes that it receives, and does away with our hated Internal Revenue Service and the need to spend so much time filing tax returns each year. In addition, such a concept gives US businesses the incentive to bring home all the money they have socked away in overseas tax havens, and grow their businesses here in the US with no tax penalties. Sigh. I believe my federal income tax rate is about 28 percent. When I lived in Germany, I believe my German friends were paying nearly 50 percent income tax. That seems a bit high to me.

polenta

Sheftali, that's a lot of different taxes. People should take a course to know how to handle them. LOL
Maybe what's important is not so much if there are many taxes but if the net money left in our pockets is enough for our expenses and what we need.
By the way, what is essential for some people might be done without for others. For example, is YOGURT essential or we can do with MILK?
What superfluous? This is a difficult question to answer in a consumption society, which is the tendency nowaday even in Third World countries.

matthew

YEAH FOR FAIR TAX SUPPORT...

The fair tax would eliminate tax evasion... Even illegal aliens would pay it when they made a purchase...

The poor would get "vouchers" to compensate for the tax...

The only way to avoid the tax would be to not buy ANYTHING...

The Fair Tax system would spread the tax liability out and those that evade tax would pay tax as well... So... those that pay tax now will pay less because the dirt bags that don't, will have to... (not to mention no more paying the IRS billions)...

Really, the only people that have a gripe are those that have retired and are past the burden of tax... but heck... Take one for the team...

lynnspotter

You GO matthew!!!!! It'll never happen cause of all those IRS employees, but it would be a wonderful thing!!

matthew

There are a few... just a few more people in the USA that are NOT IRS employees... If we voice it... Those that want our vote will listen... They are basically chicken of us if we really came together on a matter...

Dragon

Good luck getting everyone in America on board for anything in particular (or any democratic country really).
We had a politician here named Stockwell Day who proposed that if more than 50% of voters agreed on one thing and signed a petition saying they wanted it then it should automatically be signed into law or at least be sent to parliment to be argued. A good idea in theory until a comedic commentator Rick Mercer (he's kind of Canada's Jon Stewart) put forth a petition to make Stockwell Day change his first name to Doris. He urged as many Canadians as possible to sign the petition to prove that you could force some really stupid laws into existence if you had the ear of the people.