VATupdate Newsletter Week 33 2026

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RESULTS

There was a time when winning was rather important. Apparently, things have changed.

These days, participation sometimes seems more important than performance. And losing is not necessarily losing anymore. It is an “opportunity to learn”. Which, admittedly, sounds much nicer.

A few years ago, an American history teacher from Florida found herself at the centre of this discussion. She claimed she had been dismissed after refusing to give students a grade of 50% for assignments they had simply not handed in.

Her reasoning was straightforward: if a student did not submit an assignment, there was nothing to grade. The school, however, had a policy stating that 50% was the lowest possible grade. The idea behind such policies is that giving students a zero can damage their overall average and, supposedly, their motivation.

The story went viral, with headlines suggesting that the teacher had been fired simply because she refused to give students a passing grade for doing nothing.

The underlying question remains interesting: Should we protect children from failure, or teach them how to deal with it?

Psychologists have been studying this question for decades. One of the better-known theories is Self-Determination Theory, which suggests that people are more likely to be genuinely motivated when three basic psychological needs are met: autonomy, competence and relatedness. In simple terms: people like to feel that they have some control, that they are capable, and that they belong.

This is particularly relevant to education: A child who receives a good grade because they worked hard may think: I can do this. A child who receives a good grade despite not doing the work may think: Apparently, I don’t have to do this.

Those are not quite the same message.

Perhaps this is where the modern phenomenon of the so-called curling parent comes in.

The term comes from curling, where players sweep the ice in front of a moving stone to make its path as smooth as possible. Curling parents do something similar for their children: they remove obstacles.

They call the teacher when the grade is too low. They explain why their child should have been selected for the team. They make sure disappointment is quickly repaired. Their intentions are usually good.

But there is a problem with removing every obstacle from somebody’s path: eventually, they have to walk somewhere without you.

And life is not particularly good at giving everybody a 50%.

Sometimes you lose. Sometimes your application is rejected. Sometimes the customer says no. Sometimes your brilliant idea turns out not to be brilliant at all. And sometimes you simply forgot to hand in the assignment.

There is, however, one important difference between school and the real world.

At school, you can pass with a 6 out of 10. You don’t need to know everything. You don’t even need to get everything right. A 60% is enough.

Of course, participation matters. Teamwork matters. Having fun matters. Trying matters. Learning matters. But there is an important distinction between saying “It doesn’t matter if you lose” and saying “There is no such thing as losing.” The first can be liberating. The second can be dangerous.

VAT is different.

The tax authorities don’t say: “Well, you got most of it right, so let’s give you a 6.”

They don’t accept a 7 either. Or an 8. Or even a 9.

In VAT, you are expected to get it right.

The VAT amount is not a reward for participation. It is the tax consequence of an underlying transaction. And the same principle applies to a grade: it is supposed to tell us something about the work that was actually done.

In VAT there is no passing grade. A 6 is not good enough. A 9 is not good enough. In VAT, you are expected to score 10 out of 10. Every time.

And if the result is a zero?

Well…

At least in VAT, zero can sometimes be very good news.

Anyone interested in more VAT news, developments and occasional philosophical reflections on the strange similarities between tax law and everyday life can subscribe to the weekly VATupdate newsletter at VATupdate.com

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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