King: I was thinking!!
Minister: No , not again.
King: Yes, it is that time of the year too.
Minister: Increase the tax
King: Yes by a mere 2 %, this time. But it would be a new tax.
Minister: That will make it 50 % tax
King: Yes, my queen got in to a fight with my other queen over sharing a bathroom in the palace.
Minister: But there are 20 bathrooms in the palace.
King: Yaa but you know women right. Its my fault , I didn't build a palace for my new queen.
Minister: So ..
King: I want to build a new palace and I don't want to touch my savings. Let me increase the tax.
Minister: People will rebel!
King: Yes some will beat up the tax man and some will send me the hate mail. But majority will comply. After all we have brought them to respect authority.
Minister: But what reason shall we give?
King: Defence spendings!!
Minister: What?
King: We have a summer campaign against our neighbor. As long as this country has a single neighbor, we are not safe.
Minister: But no matter how many neighbors we capture, their neighbors will become ours and we will have to fight them.
King: Not if we capture the whole world, the problem is solved. Just like 'Alexander the Great' did.
Minister: Only then would you invest in roads, education and other things?
King: What use is of investing in all this if the neighbors destroy it?
Minister: Ohh! What tax do you have in your mind?
King: We have taxed everything. Water , Education, Food and other things have being taxed. But today while my queens were fighting I thought about it. We will have 'Spouse tax'
Minister: So if the people don't pay we take away there spouse!
King: Yes
Minister: Then no one will pay even the tax that were paying. We will be bankrupt.
King: Then what should we do?
Minister: Why don't you attack our neighbor and take money ?
King: All my generals are on one campaign or the other. There is no one to lead a campaign.
Minister: What about you? You have never gone on a campaign.
King: The queens will miss me.
Minister: You can take all of them.
King: That will give extra motivation for my enemy to fight. What about you? You lead the campaign.
Minister: No let us tax the people.
King: See I told you before. Taxing is easier!!
Minister: But what should we tax?
King: Air tax.
Minister: What?
King: We have land tax. Water tax. But we dont have air tax.
Minister: Thats crazy. No body has taxed air.
King: Thats innovative. Every person in my kingdom should cough up money for breathing.
Minister: We can't stop them from breathing if they don't.
King: We will throw them out of the kingdom if they don't.
Minister: But people will rebel.
King: Thats why I am thinking of opening a tax department which will over see the tax collection. We will say that it is
independent and it forms the policies.
Minister: So that the department becomes the symbol of hatred.
King: Whenever the people become agitated the king will pass a ordinance announcing small refunds to everyone. That will make the people pacified.
Minister: What name do you have for this?
King: IRS.
Minister: What does it stand for?
King: It is a short form for 'Insatiable Revenue Suckers' but we will find some decent name for people.
