The only sure things in life.....

Everyone has heard of the aphorism "the only sure things in life are taxes and death" Perhaps we may add "climate change"! But nonetheless I have been taxed by four countries, the UK, USA, Australia and my beloved Philippines.

My UK tax I had to pay to the Bermudian government for some crust I earned at the Bermuda Biological Station. It was pretty straightforward and was easy. It took me two minutes to lodge the form. The US of A will hound you to the ends of the earth (or even the galaxy, remember that Apollo 13 astronaut?) for tax money. So now that I am in Manila, I received the tax form in the mail which I sent with payment. In Australia, I had to work for a crust on student wages and I lodged my tax form at the Australian Tax Office. I received a cuppa and an Anzac bikkie in return. They keep the customer satisfied! After all it is the taxpayer who makes the Commonwealth run.

In my beloved Philippines, I get a tax computation two days before the deadline. And you have to shell out some huge amount of cash since some idiotic snafu made the accounting office forget to withhold tax from salary adjustment. And paying tax is a pain in this country. BTW only 30% of the populace pays income tax!

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Simoun's lamp has been lit, finally.. not by one but by the many!

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How should we remember General Antonio Luna?

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Marikina River and the "janitor" fish

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