[lace-chat] Australian postage problems

[Helene Gannac]

 --- Jane Partridge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 
> In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Helene
> Gannac <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
> >What you have to do is increase the postage by 10% to cover the GST.
> So,
> >instead of putting $1,65 on a letter, for instance, you have to put
> $1,65
> >plus 16 cents (10% extra to cover the GST). 
> 
> But surely there are different rates anyway for international and local
> mail, so any tax will be calculated in the amount to pay, regardless
> what is on the front of a valid stamp (other than the price)? I assume
> the idea behind all this is for the machinery to distinguish between the
> two so that the powers that be can calculate how much has to be paid in
> tax, and how much is exempt.
> 
> -- 
> Jane Partridge

No, Jane, the idea behind all that is that all GST (equivalent to VAT) for
goods and services is included in the price *in* Australia. We never pay
more than what is stated, the GST is already included in any price,
whether in a shop or at the restaurant.So the face value of a domestic 
stamp is postage including GST.
However, exports do not attract GST, so someone with a twisted mind
decided that because international letters and parcels were going
overseas, we shouldn't pay GST on the stamps, which are also going
overseas when they are stuck on the envelopes...:-), and the international
stamp is supposed to be postage value without GST.
At the end of the year, the PO, and every other poor shopkeeper,
restaurateur, company manager, etc, has to calculate how much GST they
charged people, and send their forms to the Government as part of the
income tax process. 

So the PO decided that there would be stamps for domestic consumption
taxed with GST (means 50c postage instead of 45 cents to start with, as
the GST was passed down to the consumer), but international stamps would
remain the same (not for very long, unfortunately...), as the PO didn't
have to pay GST to the Government for those. So, then, they claimed that
if we used domestic stamps on international envelopes, the PO would have
to pay more GST to the Government when they shouldn't!!!
To me, it seems a ridiculous statement, since they pass on the cost to the
consumer, but go figure
Anyway, there was a huge outcry at the time by all stamps collectors who
screamed blue murder at the idea of not being able to send unusual stamps
wherever they wanted to (I was one of them writing to the Postmaster and
to the Minister), so in the end, they decided that people could use any
stamps, provided they made up the 10% GST by adding to the official
postage. So, for instance, if you use a $1.00 international stamp plus a
65 cents domestic stamp to send a letter to France, you have to add on 10%
of 65 cents or just over it if you can't just make it.

Ridiculous, isn't it? But that's little Johnny and his comrades for you!!

Helene, the froggy from Melbourne, where Xmas decorations hace already
crept up everywhere...
 

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http://au.movies.yahoo.com

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[lace-chat] :) Fwd: Wal*mart

[Tamara P. Duvall]

Wal-mart has, for years, been my favourite "social centre" of 
Lexington; that's where I run into people I don't see for weeks 
otherwise, and catch up on their news. Didn't know they added  to their 
services :)

From: T.H.
One day, in line at a company cafeteria, Joe says to Mike behind him, 
"My elbow hurts like hell. I guess I better see a doctor."
 
"Listen, you don't have to spend that kind of money," Mike replies. 
 "There's a diagnostic computer down at Wal-mart. Just give it a urine 
sample and the computer will tell you what's wrong and what to do about 
it. It takes ten seconds and costs ten dollars... a lot cheaper than a 
doctor."
 
So Joe puts a urine sample in a small jar and takes it to Wal-mart. He 
deposits ten dollars, and the computer lights up and asks for the urine 
sample. He pours the sample into the slot and waits.
 
Ten seconds later, the computer ejects a printout: You have tennis 
elbow. Soak it in warm water and avoid heavy activity. It will improve 
in two weeks.
Thank you for shopping @ Wal-mart.
 
That afternoon, while thinking how amazing this new technology was, Joe 
began wondering if the computer could be fooled. When he got home, he 
mixed some tap water, a stool sample from his dog, urine samples from 
his wife and daughter and his own sperm sample for good measure, and 
hurried to Wal-mart before it closed, eager to check the results. He 
deposited ten dollars, poured in his concoction, and awaited the 
results.
 
The computer lights up, and ten seconds later prints the following:   
1. Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener kit. (Aisle 9)
2. Your dog has ringworm. Bathe him with anti-fungal shampoo.  (Aisle 7)
3. Your daughter has a cocaine habit. Get her into rehab.
4 Your wife is pregnant, Twins. They aren't yours. Get a lawyer.
5. If you don't stop playing with yourself, your elbow will never get 
better.
Thank you for shopping @ Wal-mart

---
Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
  Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet:
no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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