VATupdate Newsletter Week 42 2022

Helicopter Ride

We think that VAT is fun. Which is not always the same as funny. VAT usually gets a smile on our faces, but mainly because of the topic, the interpretation of the rules, or a specifically interesting comment or observation, instead of a funny punchline. Some jokes are funny, other are not. It usually depends on the timing, the audience and the situation. What one person finds funny, another finds offensive, or simply not funny.

Yet, by lack of anything better, here’s a joke to enlighten your day:

Walter took his wife Ethel to the state fair every year, and every time he would say to her, “Ethel, you know that I’d love to go for a ride in that helicopter.” But Ethel would always reply, “I know that Walter, but that helicopter ride is 50 dollars and 50 dollars is 50 dollars.”

Finally, they went to the fair, and Walter said to Ethel, “Ethel, you know I’m 87 years old now. If I don’t ride that helicopter this year, I may never get another chance.” Once again Ethel replied, “Walter, you know that helicopter is 50 dollars and 50 dollars is 50 dollars.”

This time the helicopter pilot overheard the couple’s conversation and said, “Listen folks, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll take both of you for a ride; if you can both stay quiet for the entire ride and not say a word I won’t charge you! But if you say just one word, it’s 50 dollars.”

Walter and Ethel agreed and up they went in the helicopter. The pilot performed all kinds of fancy moves and tricks, but not a word was said by either Walter or Ethel.

The pilot did his death-defying tricks over and over again, but still there wasn’t so much as one word said.

When they finally landed, the pilot turned to Walter and said, “Wow! I’ve got to hand it to you. I did everything I could to get you to scream or shout out, but you didn’t. I’m really impressed!”

Walter replied, “Well to be honest I almost said something when Ethel fell out but, you know, 50 dollars is 50 dollars!”

Let us know if this joke put a smile on your face. And if it didn’t we’ll try and find a better one for you next time. If that won’t get you laughing, you can always try and call HMCR and ask for the status of your VAT registration request: that’s the biggest joke right now in the VAT world. Communicating with HMRC is a nightmare, which may well be appropriate during Halloween, but which is making companies cry. All that, while we started off by saying: VAT is fun!

If you have any comments, questions, or ideas that you want to share with us, please send us an email at [email protected] or leave a comment under the posts of this newsletter on LinkedIn.

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