It’s July 1 and the start of a new financial year! Whether you are expecting a refund or having to pay back the taxman here are some taxing thoughts …

A man crosses the border each morning on a donkey. And each day, his donkey is loaded with only bags of straw. When he reaches the border, the tax collectors search his bags to calculate what duty he must pay on his exports. But they find nothing. In the evening, after their shift has finished and they are eating at the local restaurant, they see the same man spending loads of money and boasting that he is in fact a smuggler and that no one can catch him. Each day, incensed at his bold claims, the tax collectors obsessively search his bags of straw. They also check his hat, his beard and even cut open his shoes in the hope of finding money between the leather. And yet, each evening, he is seen back in the city growing ever more prosperous. The tax collectors continue their futile interrogations of the straw bags for years, but to no avail. Years later and now a prosperous man, the smuggler moves away to another city and settles down to enjoy his wealth.

One day, in the market, one of the retired tax collectors meets his old foe and asks, “Sir, many years have passed. I am no longer a tax collector and we are just two old men. Please, you can tell me, what was it you were smuggling all that time to make so much money?”

With a wide grin the smuggler replied, “Donkeys.”

And a couple of shorter funnies!

What do you call a blood sucking tax specialist?
Account Dracula.

Do you know how you can tell Monopoly’s an old game?
It has a luxury tax, and rich people can actually go to jail.

Why are Sherlock Holmes’ taxes so low?
He’s a master of deduction.

Did you hear that the atheists are trying to get tax-exempt status now?
They are a not-for-prophet organisation.

A fine is a tax for doing wrong.
A tax is a fine for doing well!

Have a joke to share?  Send it to editor@majellan.org.au