How can you not know

I sat with a work colleague at lunch and talked about different forms of savings. We talked about endowment insurance, after which he asked me if it is the savings form you only pay a small fee?

This is a middle-aged man with 1 child and a good job. I corrected him immediately and said, tax. It's a tax, not a fee. He looked at me and said he was just paying income tax. I answered, good for you. So you neither eat, drive, smoke, drink etc.?

Of that I do, he said. Then you do not only pay income tax I replied, then you pay special excise tax and VAT (value added tax) as well.

It is fascinating how a people who has and have a long history of socialist government for a number of years can be completely marinated in socialism.