VATupdate Newsletter Week 45 2022

Disappointments

What is the meaning of life? It’s a tricky question, because the answer is different for everyone. Some say it’s making money, some say is maintaining good health, some say is spending time with loved ones, and some say its 42. All we know is that going through life, means: dealing with disappointments.

We started a series on digital reporting, e-invoicing and other related topics, to prepare all of you for the proposals from the EU Commission on ”VAT in the Digital Age”. We know that you have been waiting for this, but alas, the publication has been postponed to 7 December 2022.

We recommend to always look at the bright side of life. The postponement means that we now have more time to prepare and anticipate on the proposal. And to make-up a bit for the delay, was can share a joke with you.

“An elderly man is audited, and is summoned to the tax inspector’s office. The man arrives at the tax office together with his tax advisor.

The tax inspector says: “Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I’m not sure I find that believable.”

“I’m a great gambler, and I can prove it,” says the elderly guy. “How about a demonstration? I’ll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.”

The tax inspector thinks a moment and says, “It’s a bet.”

The elderly guy removes his glass eye and bites it. The tax inspector’s jaw drops. The old guy then says, “Now, I’ll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.”

The tax inspector can tell he isn’t blind, so he takes the bet. The elderly guy removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The now stunned auditor realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with the old guy’s tax advisor as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

“Want to go double or nothing?” the elderly person asks. “I’ll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.”

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there’s no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

The old guy stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can’t make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor’s desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win. But the elderly guy’s tax advisor moans and puts his head in his hands.

“Are you okay?” the tax inspector asks.

“Not really,” says the tax advisor. “This morning, when he told me he’d been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and pee all over your desk and that you’d be happy about it.”

In other words: one disappointment can be another one’s joy. It’s a bit the same with VAT: we all find great joy in it. And there’s no disappointment.

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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