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BrazenPicker · 04-02-2011, 02:31 AM

Villager, couldn't you get registered as a business? I suppose you're now a private collector, but as a business the whole VAT thing would not apply to you, no? You'd just have to mark it up when you sell a guitar (and only if it's inside the EU) and then pay that amount in taxes to the government, but while it's in your possession, it'd be just part of your business's inventory.

As to taxes, no one likes to pay them, but living here in Singapore has also made me see the other side where you're really on your own. Forget pensions, free health care, cheap higher education, etc. It's a very common sight here to see ancient looking people still working. The cleaners in my workplace look like denizens of a geriatric ward, most of them are well over 70 and several look like they're well past 80. They have no other means of support so they have no choice. The mandatory retirement age for taxi drivers is 72 and some of them are demanding to have this raised as it's unfair if they're still healthy and have no other means of support. Can you imagine doing such a stressful job when you're in your seventies? So when I move back to Europe, with cheap and good healthcare and education and at least some form of retirement security, I'll accept it as part of the deal. Not that I'll like it, but seeing the alternative is an eye opener.

04-02-2011, 02:31 AM	#38 (permalink)
BrazenPicker Bartlett Retrospec Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,310 Thanks: 76 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: burnys getting expensive.. Villager, couldn't you get registered as a business? I suppose you're now a private collector, but as a business the whole VAT thing would not apply to you, no? You'd just have to mark it up when you sell a guitar (and only if it's inside the EU) and then pay that amount in taxes to the government, but while it's in your possession, it'd be just part of your business's inventory. As to taxes, no one likes to pay them, but living here in Singapore has also made me see the other side where you're really on your own. Forget pensions, free health care, cheap higher education, etc. It's a very common sight here to see ancient looking people still working. The cleaners in my workplace look like denizens of a geriatric ward, most of them are well over 70 and several look like they're well past 80. They have no other means of support so they have no choice. The mandatory retirement age for taxi drivers is 72 and some of them are demanding to have this raised as it's unfair if they're still healthy and have no other means of support. Can you imagine doing such a stressful job when you're in your seventies? So when I move back to Europe, with cheap and good healthcare and education and at least some form of retirement security, I'll accept it as part of the deal. Not that I'll like it, but seeing the alternative is an eye opener.