Posted on 04/01/2005 11:57:46 AM PST by LibWhacker
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's top tax collector had the citizens of Ottawa up in arms on Friday morning when he announced a plan to force them to file their taxes electronically if they wanted a refund before Christmas.
Revenue Minister John McCallum said on a local CBC radio show he was launching a pilot project in Ottawa called "E-file or Else," with long delays and even a 5 percent surcharge for paper filers.
This prompted calls voicing outrage because some people do not have computers and in any case some had already filed their tax returns.
Before the early morning program went off the air, McCallum's voice came on once more: "To all the taxpayers of Ottawa, April Fools' Day."
Another year the show had a minister proclaiming that the government was replacing the clock on Parliament's Peace Tower -- similar to the British Parliament's Big Ben -- with a digital version.
A cruel joke from a cruel man.
I like the one about the clock,though.
Yeah, maybe folks in government positions that rely on their credibility ought not to play practical jokes on the citizenry. Call up your buddies and joke on them, not the general population. I guess he couldn't resist a little Canuck-nyuk-nyuk!
I really appreciate this one. It's one of the funniest stories I've ever heard ~ and believe me I understand full well the terror people feel all the way to the center of their bones when the government agent yuck-yucks about "collection techniques".
They give refunds in Canada?
Actually, I like it. Gives them a human face. At least as a gesture of kinship with real people. And it is funny!
Yeah and I could deal with it - I just don't get tax humor. I remember a time when I was a kid just starting out when tax return checks were a big deal and were practically counted on. If someone said, hey buddy, yours ain't comin' for a long time - I wouldn't have liked having my tail yanked like that.
The digital clock thing was funny, but money and taxes? In the grand sceme, fine I guess, I just don't appreciate it.
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