No matter to where yer travel, or how fast ya move, taxes will have got there first.

It's a fact (or perhaps a truism) that was highlighted during my holiday last week, in both the Netherlands and the States.

In the latter country - New York City, to be specific - there was the sales tax, which is added at a store's pay desk. Usually, but not always.

Sometimes it's included in the ticket price, meaning ya'll make yer brain bleed by trying to mentally calculate 8.875% of, say, $12.99, and then find that it was for nowt.

Prior to the Big Apple, I visited The Hague, home of my best man, who revealed that he pays a whopping 50% tax on his income, having had rejected his application to pay just 30%.

He's not a Dutch native, you see, so he can't get the associated tax... well, one hesitates to call it a break.

Fifty percent! I didn't ask what exactly he earns, but he did offer that it's nowhere near £150,000 per annum.

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