Computers: the death of paper!

[Greynomad]

I bought ONE ITEM at Woolworths...

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[BernieQ2]

More like the death of a forest Ray .
Bernie .

[Greynomad]

Prezackly my point...

[T1 Terry]

It won't happen till everyone is happy with receiving their invoice or docket via electronic means ... to a smart phone or 'puter.
The old argument about being able to track your spending habits then comes to the surface, not so much the store itself, it already knows via your card number .... unless you always pay cash and don't use a rewards card .... but the tax man and associates don't have a clear path to that info, not that they couldn't find it if they really tried, but it wouldn't just simply record on a data storage device that could be accessed at any time. Why would anyone worry about that? It would be the end of the cash economy completely, they could quickly trace where you received money, where you accessed cash from a financial institution and how much of that cash reappeared in your spending each week.
If you spent more cash than you had records for, you were obviously getting cash on the side some where, if you withdrew a lot more than appeared in your spending reports, you were either hording it under the mattress or doing cash transactions where they were not getting the GST they believe is rightfully theirs, so they would dig deeper until they found the path and all parties would be up before the courts if a cash transaction that wasn't recorded (and GST paid) could be proved, tax fraud basically.
The usual method of gaining such information, a big boots at the door tax audit, the relevant paperwork enlarged in big print (because that makes it look worse) and an offer to go lenient if you tell all .... the average person is scared shitteless and spills info they didn't have to begin with, and the whole thing comes tumbling down.
The push is to move us to a cashless society, much easier to trace tax fraud or black market dealings, cash becomes worthless if no one wants to handle it. The USA is already very close to that point and things don't seem to be going that well for them, but many other forces are at play as well so it would be drawing a long bow to link the two together, but it sure doesn't help the financial divide and those that have dropped off the system.

T1 Terry

[Greynomad]

Then you have people like our neighbour, who doesn’t own or want either a mobile phone or a computer.
He’s had the devil’s own job getting a border pass for a medical appointment.
We had to apply on his behalf using my contact details.
I think he may have a plastic card, but his hobby honey production is an all-cash sideline.
He doesn’t keep up with current events, and was surprised when we told him about the border lockdown.

[native pepper]

The push is to move us to a cashless society, much easier to trace tax fraud or black market dealings, cash becomes worthless if no one wants to handle it. The USA is already very close to that point and things don't seem to be going that well for them, but many other forces are at play as well so it would be drawing a long bow to link the two together, but it sure doesn't help the financial divide and those that have dropped off the system.

T1 Terry

What the fools running the country don't realise is the black economy is essential, as it is the actual driver of the economy, everything else is just a profit growth job loss excercise. which brings the economy to it's knees in the end and destroys small business and enterprising individuals.

The money within the black economy always ends up within the system as people spend it much more than money within the banking and tax system. When you take that away, people tend not to spend because of price rip off and never ending price increases. The black economy actually keeps inflation and price growth in check, it acts as a control on prices because things are always cheaper using cash and big business have to compete with that.

[T1 Terry]

Then you have people like our neighbour, who doesn’t own or want either a mobile phone or a computer.
He’s had the devil’s own job getting a border pass for a medical appointment.
We had to apply on his behalf using my contact details.
I think he may have a plastic card, but his hobby honey production is an all-cash sideline.
He doesn’t keep up with current events, and was surprised when we told him about the border lockdown.

Sometimes you wonder who has the better plan, until things like border closures and the like come up. He would be one of the people who could legitimately claim "he did know" if caught out after curfew if it went state wide.
If the cash economy could get shut down because cash became worthless or not worth the plastic it was printed on. We can probably all remember not long back, it was a news item about a country of starving people with wades of notes that couldn't even buy a loaf of bread because the currency was worthless. Then the currency reverts to barter as it was in the beginning, kinda hard to work evil bay that way but I guess there would be a credit system spring up fairly quickly to cover those problems. Would we all trade in "Bit Coin" type currencies? But where would the purchase value to buy in to these systems be established? I guess they would keep the card economy going or all the financial system would collapse along with basic law and order etc ..... dystopian scenarios, seems to be the topic for the best seller lists these days .....

T1 Terry

[jon_d]

A cash economy is ok if you don't use the services that taxes pay for.

Does the beekeeper have a pension, does he use medicare, etc. Becuase, we are all paying for him while he gets it for free. That's not fair.

The good thing is; if he spends all his honey money on petrol and food (etc), then the GST he spends it on is still being collected.

[T1 Terry]

A cash economy is ok if you don't use the services that taxes pay for.

Does the beekeeper have a pension, does he use medicare, etc. Becuase, we are all paying for him while he gets it for free. That's not fair.

The good thing is; if he spends all his honey money on petrol and food (etc), then the GST he spends it on is still being collected.

As well as all the equipment and supplies he has to buy to keep his "Bee Keeping" business alive and functioning. These are the ones the tax man catches up with because the money flow doesn't add up ... only worth the effort to the tax man if the business exceeds "Hobby Value" because he would be tax exempt anyway and the profit/loss would keep the income below the pension adjustment level, well a good accounted would anyway

T1 Terry

[Greynomad]

He doesn’t make enough from his honey to bother the taxman. In fact, I’m not sure it’s a break-even business when you take into account his expenses.
The cost of petrol alone in moving his hives would probably be more than he makes from sales.
If he does make any profit, the GST on foodstuffs would probably eat it all and then some.
But he’s happy tending his bees. Doesn’t like us mowing our flowering weeds, ‘cos his bees like them.
(We leave some near the fence for them.)
He’s happy. We’re happy, having not bought supermarket honey since moving.
Who is he hurting?
Mind you, the local council is in for its chop. Charges him $700pa just to put up a sign ON HIS OWN PROPERTY advertising honey for sale!