Who Pays?
Taxes are a necessary evil. No one likes to pay. But we all like quality public education, decent roads and highways, unemployment benefits, old-age pensions, subsidies, and public hospitals and clinics where we get a fighting chance to recuperate our health. In a perfect world, those who earn the most should pay the most, even if they don't need some of these services. Because those at the top of the world can sometimes fall to its depths and find themselves in need. One would think that would be an incentive to pay more taxes for more earnings.
But this is anything but a perfect world. The more money some people have, the less they want to pay for services that, in their opinion, only freeloaders demand. So tax havens are created, and money squirreled away that no one but its owner will ever benefit from. The Spanish financially elite have always had a "let them eat cake" attitude toward the rest of the population. And so the Spanish people have been regaled to a parade of political and financial scandals ever since the ratification of the Constitution of 1978. And now, it has been discovered that some of our symbols have been spattered with the mud raked up from the Panama Papers.
Pedro Almodóvar, our most famous film director. Leo Messi, now a Spanish citizen and soccer hero. And Pilar de Borbón, the sister of the previous monarch, aunt to the present King. People who, through their public actions, represent our country. These people have been laughing at us. Almodóvar has since assured that he was always up to date on declarations and taxes. The others have kept mum. Leo Messi has already had problems with the law over tax evasion. Now he'll probably have to answer a few more questions. Pilar de Borbón has had an account in Panama for over forty years. Curiously, she opened it when her brother was named head of the government, just before Franco died, and closed it a few days after her brother abdicated. That fact and the fact that the present King's sister is embroiled in a trial where her husband is being tried for fraud, is making more people think that a republic might be a better idea.
Meanwhile, if someone earning a thousand euros makes a small mistake on their tax return, they have to pay Hacienda (Internal Revenue) an arm and a leg, even if they end up under a bridge. Because Hacienda Somos Todos (We all make up Hacienda). Unless you're rich enough to have an offshore account. Then Hacienda is simply something to keep the rabble in their place.
But this is anything but a perfect world. The more money some people have, the less they want to pay for services that, in their opinion, only freeloaders demand. So tax havens are created, and money squirreled away that no one but its owner will ever benefit from. The Spanish financially elite have always had a "let them eat cake" attitude toward the rest of the population. And so the Spanish people have been regaled to a parade of political and financial scandals ever since the ratification of the Constitution of 1978. And now, it has been discovered that some of our symbols have been spattered with the mud raked up from the Panama Papers.
Pedro Almodóvar, our most famous film director. Leo Messi, now a Spanish citizen and soccer hero. And Pilar de Borbón, the sister of the previous monarch, aunt to the present King. People who, through their public actions, represent our country. These people have been laughing at us. Almodóvar has since assured that he was always up to date on declarations and taxes. The others have kept mum. Leo Messi has already had problems with the law over tax evasion. Now he'll probably have to answer a few more questions. Pilar de Borbón has had an account in Panama for over forty years. Curiously, she opened it when her brother was named head of the government, just before Franco died, and closed it a few days after her brother abdicated. That fact and the fact that the present King's sister is embroiled in a trial where her husband is being tried for fraud, is making more people think that a republic might be a better idea.
Meanwhile, if someone earning a thousand euros makes a small mistake on their tax return, they have to pay Hacienda (Internal Revenue) an arm and a leg, even if they end up under a bridge. Because Hacienda Somos Todos (We all make up Hacienda). Unless you're rich enough to have an offshore account. Then Hacienda is simply something to keep the rabble in their place.
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