Rise, salaried class

This rant on how the salaried class is taxed at source and bled dry reminded me of the angry reaction of a tax payer in the famous short story, “The Negotiable Cow” by A.P.Herbert in his book, “Uncommon Law”.

If you haven’t read the story, here’s the outline. The protagonist, Mr Haddock, after a long battle with the Collector of Taxes, was still asked to remit an amount of fifty-seven pounds. One fine morning, soon after, Mr. Haddock appeared at the Collector’s office and delivered a cow of mean looks, with these words stenciled in red on its body:

To the London and Literary Bank, Limited
Pay the Collector of Taxes, who is no gentleman, or Order, the sum of fifty seven pounds (and may he rot!) L 57/10/0
ALBERT HADDOCK

Haddock argued that the British law did not state that a cheque had to be made out only on paper and therefore any medium could be used. The cow was as good a negotiable instrument as any. The Court ruled in his favour.

So, here’s my proposal. If a million Indians wrote out ‘pay orders’ on a million cows for the tax amount that each of them owed the Govt. and sent these bovine cheques to the IT Dept, very soon they will be forced to abolish income tax. The plan sounds almost Gandhian in its simplicity.

So, rise ye salaried class. Don't be cowed down any longer