Chartered accountant GAIL FREEMAN shares some fun facts about tax, which show how much governments like fiddling with tax!

In 2003 the “agricultural emissions research levy” otherwise known as the fart tax was proposed in NZ. 

Farmers would have had to pay the tax based on their livestock holdings to counter the cost of greenhouse gas emissions from their animals. 

In 2004 a consortium from NZ’s livestock industry agreed to pay for some research not just via taxation. The government reserved the right to bring in the tax in the future if the industry withdrew from this agreement. So the fart tax was never levied. 

In Denmark, in October 2011, a tax was raised on foods containing saturated fat at the rate of €2.14 per kilo of saturated fat. This was believed to be the world’s first fat tax. 

It was charged on buttermilk, cheese, pizza, meat oil and processed foods if they contained more than 2.3 per cent saturated fat. It lasted for two Christmas dinners. The fat tax was repealed in January 2013!

In Sweden, in 2017 baby name regulations were administered by the Swedish tax department. These regulations replaced a previous 1982 law. 

As a result, parents must have their child’s name approved by the department before the child turns five. A penalty of 5000 kroner (about $A750) is charged to parents who fail to do so. 

Interestingly, some names that have been passed by the Swedish tax department include Metallica and Lego, while Ikea, Allah and Jesus have been disallowed. Although members of the country’s Hispanic community can appeal to use the name Jesus.

Meanwhile, in 1992 American singer Willie Nelson made a special album to pay his tax debt after federal agents seized his properties in six states and other assets including boxes of master tapes, touring equipment, gold and platinum records and clothes. 

The album was called “IRS tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories”. This album featured only Nelson and his guitar and generated $US3.6 million for the IRS (approximately $A5.5 million). A further $US9 million ($A13.5 million) was requested from Willie to satisfy all his accumulated tax debts. Apparently, the music critics said the album was great.

In the US state of Iowa, pumpkins and other vegetables are exempt from sales tax if they are used as food. 

However there is a Halloween tax, which charges tax if the intent of the purchaser is to use it for other purposes. So carving a pumpkin for use as a jack-o’-lantern for a Halloween display is taxable in the state of Iowa. Not sure how they tell.

In 2012, after the London summer Olympic Games there were some issues with the tax treatment of foreign athletes. Under the British tax system, foreign athletes competing in the UK have all their endorsement income taxed, even income originating from other countries. It is taxed proportionately to the time spent in the UK. 

It was always waived by the British government for the duration of the Olympics, but it kicked back in after their conclusion creating confusion and problems for some of the athletes.

There are lots more fun facts about tax which have been raised over the years. As you can tell governments like fiddling with tax!

If you need clarification of any tax matter that seems unusual please contact the expert team at Gail Freeman on (02) 6295 2844, email info@gailfreeman.com.au or visit gailfreeman.com.au