When is a ship not a ship? When Gordon Brown is Prime Minister apparently. Not the funniest joke, but true. You may find this one hard to track dowwn. In fact if it was April 1st I would think I had imagined it. But "J" saw it as well, on the news this morning.
There has been a long standing arrangement that sailors who are away from home for 8 months a year do not have to pay tax (I believe it was the poll tax but could be corrected). Anyway, the dear old inland revenue have found a loophole. It is simple enough. Reclassify ships as "floating platforms". Suddenly the men on board are no longer sailors and no longer eligeble for the tax break. A nice extra income for the government, on a group of people who won't be noticed.
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