Taxing Profits of Slavery

First published: 24^th February 2011

Here is a form for reporting something about profits tax to the Inland Revenue, but what is being said?

I [name] with Hong Kong Identity Card No./Passport No. [number] am chargeable to Profits Tax.

The error is in the preposition. Let's try a different sentence with a similar construction, "Fuel is chargeable to the expenses account", meaning that payments for fuel should be recorded in the column expenses. So, in the form, payments for me should be recorded in Profits Tax - hey, paying for people? That's slavery, this is a form for a slave to report to the taxman that their owner should pay tax!

Everything changes if "to" is changed to "for", as "chargeable" then takes the meaning "liable to be charged", or, in other words, you (the taxman) should be charging me (the form-filler) profits tax.

There should also be a comma after "I" and another before "with".