PHOTO PROMPT © Yvette Prior
TAXING FREEDOM
Start your own business, they said. Become an independent sub-contractor. Be your own boss and answer to no-one.
It was a great idea, but this was a downside that the cube drones only had to worry about once a year, by April 15th. He had to calculate and pay his business taxes quarterly.
If he had a heart attack while filling in all these arcane forms, would the cause of death be listed as ‘acute bureaucratitis?’ He wondered if he could list the government as a dependent.
Another shot and a smoke, and he’d be filed by the midnight deadline.
***
Go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story.
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Nice one! 🙂
Loved ‘acute bureaucratitis’! 😀
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….And I’ve struck gold again. Thanx for stopping by. 🙂
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My pleasure! 😀
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You’ve painted such a vivid picture. I loved ‘acute bureaucratitis’.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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I am always pleased when my work touches a reader. That silly little throw-away phrase seems to have touched several visitors. 😀
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Loved the quirky humor here, Archon. Acute Bureacratitis might just become a thing soon.
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I always appreciate it when someone appreciates it. 🙂
It may reach the tipping point soon. Always more and more laws and rules and legislation. When was the last time you heard of a government repealing a useless ordinance?? 😕
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‘acute bureaucratitis?’ ~ HAHA! LOVE IT!
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It’s like the Church and Gay Marriage – Love the language. Hate the reality. 😛
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Such a real disease, if only we could rid ourselves of the mutant virus or even exterminate the host.
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“First, let us kill the lawyers.” 😯
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So, Canada’s tax system is similar to ours? Wouldn’t be surprising to me, given that human nature is all the same. It’s all too human to live in the moment and avoid the unpleasant reality of having to plan for the future, i.e., to fail to put tax money aside for year’s end. It’s tough. This is also why so many live paycheck to paycheck and hate the IRS.
I wonder what would be a better system? Money for government has to come from somewhere. Police, military, infrastructure, etc. Offhand, I can’t think of a better way to do it. Maybe someone else can?
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I wrote this based on the USA. Canada doesn’t have to pay taxes until April 30. It’s like an error in the Mayan calendar. It only delays doomsday by two weeks.
I think that most of us would be a lot less upset about paying taxes if there weren’t so much scams, misuse, boondoggles, pork-barreling and waste. 😯
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Oh dear, I hope he gets there, to midnight, without making a mistake and having to begin the whole task again, and again. Great piece of fictional writing.
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I believe that he and I share a common ancestor – The Duke of Procrastination. 😦
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I know someone who can relate to this very well. I really like this. I think I might give it a try. 😁
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I think I might know the same someone who you’re related to. I take my inspiration wherever I can.
Give it a go. I’d love to read what falls out of your brain. 🙂
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Sad truth, this one is! And I love your inventive words 😉
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Sad it is! I’m glad I only have to talk the wife into doing it once a year. Low income and a tax program helps. Only some of my inventive words are suitable for polite company. 😳
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Of that, I’ve no doubt… your inventive words, that is… and ya…I pay to have mine done…
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Loved the term – acute bureaucratitis !! With a shot and smoke, I doubt any filing would be done that day and night!
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He’d better keep at it. I watched a toll-road invoice go from $17 to $96 in a year, with interest and penalties. Bureaucrats eat well, ya know. 😯
Thanx for the visit and comment. 🙂
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Yes, tax filing is a tough job. Needs a lot of smoking.
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Fortunately, this is set in the US. Up here in Canada, we have just made cannabis legal. Smoking too much of that might mean the job never gets done. 😯
Uh, like, whats the rush, dude? 😆
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Or job goes on and on happily for ever.
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That’s a great new disease you’ve discovered, although one I’d like to avoid – ‘acute bureaucratitis. This is full of late night stress – well told.
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Our hero is well equipped to handle the stress. 😳
Thanx for the read, and the kind words. 🙂
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Brilliant! Can the government be claimed as a dependent. Oh, I love that 🙂
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I have to support their rapacious inefficiencies – why not? 😯
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I feel so sorry for him having to deal with all that bureaucracy.
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I feel sorry for all of us, having to deal with bureaucracy. There’s always talk about simplifying the tax code – flat rate payments – but lawyers and bureaucrats need to eat. 😯
Thanx for sympathising. 🙂
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Dear Archon,
Well done. You’ve created a disease for which there’s already an epidemic.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Mea culpa….or, as you say, Oy Vey. 😉
I just hope its not named after me, like Tay-Sachs. 🙂
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Great humour & detail.
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Thanx very much. Hope to see you here again. 🙂
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Oh, witty!! Enjoyed reading this 🙂
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I’m glad that you did. Thanx for the visit and nice comment. I look forward to some more. 🙂
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