Some of my favourite business and tax quotations
“If you think professionals are expensive – see how much amateurs cost you”. – Red Adair.
“Common sense is not so common”. – Voltaire.
The best things in life are tax free”. – Joseph Bonkowski.
“The country should have a tax system that looks like someone designed it on purpose”. – William Simon.
“Love takes many forms, but none of them are tax forms.” – .Jarod Kintz
“There is no such thing as a good tax.” – Winston Churchill.
“What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue”. – Thomas Paine.
“Make sure you pay your taxes; otherwise you can get in a lot of trouble.” – Richard Nixon.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough” – Albert Einstein.
“Tax complexity itself is a kind of tax”. – Max Baucus.
“Charity is a cold, grey, loveless thing. If a rich man wants to help the poor, he should pay his taxes gladly, not dole out money at a whim” – Clement Attlee
“Taxes are essentially an annual subscription to the country you live in. Childhood is a free trial” – Anon
“It was as true… as taxes is. And nothing’s truer than them”. – Charles Dickens.
“Philosophy teaches a man that he can’t take it with him; taxes teach him he can’t leave it behind either”. – Mignon McLaughlin.
“Tax advisers have one of the hardest jobs in the world” – Randolph E Paul – The Harvard Law Review 1950.
“For every benefit you receive a tax is levied”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
“Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one”. – Voltaire
“All lasting business is built on friendship”. – Alfred Montapert.
“There’s nothing wrong with the younger generation that becoming taxpayers won’t cure”. – Dan Bennett.
“The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell”. – Confucius.
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers.
“Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred pounds and a substantial tax cut save you thirty pence?” P.Bracken
“Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors… and miss.” – Robert Heinlein.
“There was death and taxes, and taxes was worse, because at least death didn’t happen to you every year.” – Terry Pratchett.
“The art of taxation consists of plucking the goose so as to obtain the most feathers with the least hissing.” – Jean-Baptiste Colbert.
“You must pay taxes. But there’s no law that says you have to leave a tip.” – Morgan Stanley advertisement.
“A penny saved is worth two pennies earned . . . after taxes”. – Randy Thurman.
“Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalised robbery”. – Calvin Coolidge.
“If you get up early, work late, and pay your taxes, you will get ahead……if you strike oil.”– J Paul Getty.
“Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought”. – John F Kennedy.
“What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin”. – Mark Twain.
“The power to tax is the power to destroy.” – John Marshall.
“You don’t win a tennis match by staring at the scoreboard”. – Catherine DeVrye.
“Death, taxes and childbirth! There’s never any convenient time for any of them.” – Margaret Mitchell.
“The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it’s just sort of a tired feeling.” – Paula Poundstone.
“Taxation is just a sophisticated way of demanding money with menaces.” – Terry Pratchett.
“Like Mothers, taxes are often misunderstood, but seldom forgotten.” – Lord Bramwell.
“Next to being shot at and missed, nothing is really quite as satisfying as a tax refund.” – F J Raymond
“I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilisation.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes.
“The hardest thing in the world to understand is tax.” – Albert Einstein
“Tax is society. It’s pulling together for a joint, better, future. Tax is public services, sustainability, progress, fairness, and social cohesion. Everyone should study tax law and policy. And not just at law schools”. – Rita de la Feria
And a few anonymous ones:
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else”.
“A sale is a gift until it’s paid for”.
“The taxpayer – someone who works for the government but doesn’t have to take the Civil Service examination”.
“I don’t know if I can live on my income or not – the government won’t let me try it”.
“People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women”.
“A fine is a tax for doing something wrong. A tax is a fine for doing something right”.
“We have what it takes to take what you have.” – Suggested HMRC Motto
And even a VAT one – “If I said you had an eligible body would you hold it against me?” – MW.
I now officially have enough money to last me until I die… (if I don’t buy anything).
If you want to set up a company and run it, then that’s your business….