A day without my middle finger!

When my day started I had absolutely no idea about how differently I was going to spend it. (In short it was like any other day)

So it all happened when I went to shop for groceries at Big Bazaar. (Yeah! there are some side effects of living at home). When I checked out, I thought why bother to take the trolley along with me. I had two heavy poly bags (10Kgs each). I was doing fine when I passed by the Mc Donald's. I was tempted to take a Mc Veggie, which I thought, I can gobble up on my way to parking.

I got through the wrong exit, which was far from parking. With Mc Veggie in my left hand and 20 Kgs in my right hand, somehow all the weight pressed onto my middle finger of right hand.



When I reached my car, i discovered I had lost complete sensation in my middle finger. Damn what would I do without my middle finger. Gradually I realized I was missing my dear middle finger in almost every work.

1. While driving, I could no longer control steering with the right hand's middle finger as I usually did.

2. I couldn't hold spoon properly while having lunch. Had to use my left hand instead.

3. While typing this post, I took one and half times more time than usual as all typing from my right hand had to be done with index finger.

4. I couldn't scroll through my phone's touch screen. when I tried it felt like using a stylus.
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99. My laptop's touch-pad felt so different when I couldn't use my regular finger on it. Poor pad! :(

and finally.....

100. I couldn't flick on my neighbor's kid forehead in the lift. (I felt completely helpless)

Today I realized importance of middle finger in a person'r life. There is a lot to it apart just a tool to express anger, distress, moral victory and zillion other emotions.

Indian Mythology vs Troy!

The thought came to my mind about 3 years ago when I watched Troy, a beautifully shot and directed movie starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom.

I couldn't help noticing some striking similarities between Troy and the Indian Mythology.



It starts with Trojan Prince Paris taking with him Helen, Menelaus's wife. The spartan king vows to take revenge by destroying the Trojan Empire. The incident is similar to kidnapping of Sita by Ravana and attack on Lanka by Rama.

The location of Trojan Island, surrounded by sea is similar to the land of Lanka.



Achilles, the great spartan warrior was believed to have been dipped in waters of immortality by his mother. She held her son with his ankle in her hand. And later on Achilles died when an arrow hit him in the vulnerable spot. Striking similarity lies between Achilles and Krishna, who was also killed (mistakingly by a hunter) in similar manner.

Some voices were raised to let Helen return to Sparta for the fear of impending doom. But it becomes the matter of pride and honor to the Trojan King, a behavior shown by Ravana, even when all of his warriors were being killed one by one.



Greek mythology suggests that Helen had been taken by Mt. Olympus away from the mortal world. Sita on the other hand was encapsulated by Prithvi.



The opponents of the theory would disagree by saying they differ on lot of accounts. But all I am trying to suggest here that there are certain similarities and with concept of Aryans coming from norther part of the globe, both the epics might have been inspired by same incident and may have changed their forms, locations and antics over the years according to the culture they were fed with.

While in the process of composing this post I googled a few things about Greek Mythology and I am loving this whole new world of spartan myths. :)

The Backup Plan Movie

Jennifer Lopez will meet with fans melalai back widescreen. This time, J-Lo back with his latest film "The Back-up Plan".In the film will be released next April is J-Lo serves as Zoe, a career woman who is old enough and still own, but wishes to become a mother soon. He then decided to perform artificial insemination. But in the middle of the process, he meets a man dreams

PAJAK

* Pengertian Pajak.

Pajak adalah iuran rakyat kepada kas negara berdasarkan undang-undang —sehingga dapat dipaksakan— dengan tiada mendapat balas jasa secara langsung. Pajak dipungut peguasa berdasarkan norma-norma hukum untuk menutup biaya produksi barang-barang dan jasa kolektif untuk mencapai kesejahteraan umum.

Lembaga Pemerintah yang mengelola perpajakan negara di Indonesia adalah Direktorat Jenderal Pajak (DJP) yang merupakan salah satu direktorat jenderal yang ada di bawah naungan Departemen Keuangan Republik Indonesia.

*Devinisi

Terdapat bermacam-macam batasan atau definisi tentang "pajak" yang dikemukakan oleh para ahli diantaranya adalah :

• Menurut Prof. Dr. P. J. A. Adriani, pajak adalah iuran masyarakat kepada negara (yang dapat dipaksakan) yang terutang oleh yang wajib membayarnya menurut peraturan-peraturan umum (undang-undang) dengan tidak mendapat prestasi kembali yang langsung dapat ditunjuk dan yang gunanya adalah untuk membiayai pengeluaran-pengeluaran umum berhubung tugas negara untuk menyelenggarakan pemerintahan.
• Menurut Prof. Dr. H. Rochmat Soemitro SH, pajak adalah iuran rakyat kepada Kas Negara berdasarkan undang-undang (yang dapat dipaksakan) dengan tiada mendapat jasa timbal (kontra prestasi) yang langsung dapat ditunjukkan dan yang digunakan untuk membayar pengeluaran umum. Definisi tersebut kemudian dikoreksinya yang berbunyi sebagai berikut: Pajak adalah peralihan kekayaan dari pihak rakyat kepada Kas Negara untuk membiayai pengeluaran rutin dan surplusnya digunakan untuk public saving yang merupakan sumber utama untuk membiayai public investment.
• Sedangkan menurut Sommerfeld Ray M., Anderson Herschel M., & Brock Horace R, pajak adalah suatu pengalihan sumber dari sektor swasta ke sektor pemerintah, bukan akibat pelanggaran hukum, namun wajib dilaksanakan, berdasarkan ketentuan yang ditetapkan lebih dahulu, tanpa mendapat imbalan yang langsung dan proporsional, agar pemerintah dapat melaksanakan tugas-tugasnya untuk menjalankan pemerintahan.

Pajak dari perspektif ekonomi dipahami sebagai beralihnya sumber daya dari sektor privat kepada sektor publik. Pemahaman ini memberikan gambaran bahwa adanya pajak menyebabkan dua situasi menjadi berubah. Pertama, berkurangnya kemampuan individu dalam menguasai sumber daya untuk kepentingan penguasaan barang dan jasa. Kedua, bertambahnya kemampuan keuangan negara dalam penyediaan barang dan jasa publik yang merupakan kebutuhan masyarakat.

Sementara pemahaman pajak dari perspektif hukum menurut Soemitro merupakan suatu perikatan yang timbul karena adanya undang-undang yang menyebabkan timbulnya kewajiban warga negara untuk menyetorkan sejumlah penghasilan tertentu kepada negara, negara mempunyai kekuatan untuk memaksa dan uang pajak tersebut harus dipergunakan untuk penyelenggaraan pemerintahan. Dari pendekatan hukum ini memperlihatkan bahwa pajak yang dipungut harus berdsarkan undang-undang sehingga menjamin adanya kepastian hukum, baik bagi fiskus sebagai pengumpul pajak maupun wajib pajak sebagai pembayar pajak.

Pajak menurut Pasal 1 UU No.28 Tahun 2007 tentang Ketentuan umum dan tata cara perpajakan adalah "kontribusi wajib kepada negara yang terutang oleh orang pribadi atau badan yang bersifat memaksa berdasarkan Undang Undang, dengan tidak mendapat timbal balik secara langsung dan digunakan untuk keperluan negara bagi sebesar-besarnya kemakmuran rakyat

Ciri pajak

Dari berbagai definisi yang diberikan terhadap pajak baik pengertian secara ekonomis (pajak sebagai pengalihan sumber dari sektor swasta ke sektor pemerintah) atau pengertian secara yuridis (pajak adalah iuran yang dapat dipaksakan) dapat ditarik kesimpulan tentang ciri-ciri yang terdapat pada pengertian pajak antara lain sebagai berikut:

1. Pajak dipungut berdasarkan undang-undang. Asas ini sesuai dengan perubahan ketiga UUD 1945 pasal 23A yang menyatakan "pajak dan pungutan lain yang bersifat memaksa untuk keperluan negara diatur dalam undang-undang."
2. Tidak mendapatkan jasa timbal balik (konraprestasi perseorangan) yang dapat ditunjukkan secara langsung. Misalnya, orang yang taat membayar pajak kendaraan bermotor akan melalui jalan yang sama kualitasnya dengan orang yang tidak membayar pajak kendaraan bermotor.
3. Pemungutan pajak diperuntukkan bagi keperluan pembiayaan umum pemerintah dalam rangka menjalankan fungsi pemerintahan, baik rutin maupun pembangunan.
4. Pemungutan pajak dapat dipaksakan. Pajak dapat dipaksakan apabila wajib pajak tidak memenuhi kewajiban perpajakan dan dapat dikenakan sanksi sesuai peraturan perundag-undangan.
5. Selain fungsi budgeter (anggaran) yaitu fungsi mengisi Kas Negara/Anggaran Negar yang diperlukan untuk menutup pembiayaan penyelenggaraan pemerintahan, pajak juga berfungsi sebagai alat untuk mengatur atau melaksanakan kebijakan negara dalam lapangan ekonomi dan sosial (fungsi mengatur / regulatif).

Jenis Pajak

Di tinjau dari segi Lembaga Pemungut Pajak dapat di bagi menjadi dua jenis yaitu:

Pajak Negara

• Pajak Penghasilan
• Pajak Pertambahan Nilai
• Pajak Penjualan Barang Mewah
• Pajak Bumi dan Bangunan
• Pajak Bea Perolehan Hak atas Tanah dan Bangunan
• Pajak Bea Masuk dan Cukai

Pajak Daerah

• Pajak Kendaraan bermotor
• Pajak radio
• Pajak reklame

Fungsi pajak

Pajak mempunyai peranan yang sangat penting dalam kehidupan bernegara, khususnya di dalam pelaksanaan pembangunan karena pajak merupakan sumber pendapatan negara untuk membiayai semua pengeluaran termasuk pengeluaran pembangunan. Berdasarkan hal diatas maka pajak mempunyai beberapa fungsi, yaitu:

• Fungsi anggaran (budgetair)

Sebagai sumber pendapatan negara, pajak berfungsi untuk membiayai pengeluaran-pengeluaran negara. Untuk menjalankan tugas-tugas rutin negara dan melaksanakan pembangunan, negara membutuhkan biaya. Biaya ini dapat diperoleh dari penerimaan pajak. Dewasa ini pajak digunakan untuk pembiayaan rutin seperti belanja pegawai, belanja barang, pemeliharaan, dan lain sebagainya. Untuk pembiayaan pembangunan, uang dikeluarkan dari tabungan pemerintah, yakni penerimaan dalam negeri dikurangi pengeluaran rutin. Tabungan pemerintah ini dari tahun ke tahun harus ditingkatkan sesuai kebutuhan pembiayaan pembangunan yang semakin meningkat dan ini terutama diharapkan dari sektor pajak.

• Fungsi mengatur (regulerend)

Pemerintah bisa mengatur pertumbuhan ekonomi melalui kebijaksanaan pajak. Dengan fungsi mengatur, pajak bisa digunakan sebagai alat untuk mencapai tujuan. Contohnya dalam rangka menggiring penanaman modal, baik dalam negeri maupun luar negeri, diberikan berbagai macam fasilitas keringanan pajak. Dalam rangka melindungi produksi dalam negeri, pemerintah menetapkan bea masuk yang tinggi untuk produk luar negeri.

• Fungsi stabilitas

Dengan adanya pajak, pemerintah memiliki dana untuk menjalankan kebijakan yang berhubungan dengan stabilitas harga sehingga inflasi dapat dikendalikan, Hal ini bisa dilakukan antara lain dengan jalan mengatur peredaran uang di masyarakat, pemungutan pajak, penggunaan pajak yang efektif dan efisien.

• Fungsi redistribusi pendapatan

Pajak yang sudah dipungut oleh negara akan digunakan untuk membiayai semua kepentingan umum, termasuk juga untuk membiayai pembangunan sehingga dapat membuka kesempatan kerja, yang pada akhirnya akan dapat meningkatkan pendapatan masyarakat.

[sunting] Syarat pemungutan pajak

Tidaklah mudah untuk membebankan pajak pada masyarakat. Bila terlalu tinggi, masyarakat akan enggan membayar pajak. Namun bila terlalu rendah, maka pembangunan tidak akan berjalan karena dana yang kurang. Agar tidak menimbulkan berbagai maswalah, maka pemungutan pajak harus memenuhi persyaratan yaitu:

• Pemungutan pajak harus adil

Seperti halnya produk hukum pajak pun mempunyai tujuan untuk menciptakan keadilan dalam hal pemungutan pajak. Adil dalam perundang-undangan maupun adil dalam pelaksanaannya.

Contohnya:

1. Dengan mengatur hak dan kewajiban para wajib pajak
2. Pajak diberlakukan bagi setiap warga negara yang memenuhi syarat sebagai wajib pajak
3. Sanksi atas pelanggaran pajak diberlakukan secara umum sesuai dengan berat ringannya pelanggaran

• Pengaturan pajak harus berdasarkan UU

Sesuai dengan Pasal 23 UUD 1945 yang berbunyi: "Pajak dan pungutan yang bersifat untuk keperluan negara diatur dengan Undang-Undang", ada beberapa hal yang perlu diperhatikan dalam penyusunan UU tentang pajak, yaitu:

• Pemungutan pajak yang dilakukan oleh negara yang berdasarkan UU tersebut harus dijamin kelancarannya
• Jaminan hukum bagi para wajib pajak untuk tidak diperlakukan secara umum
• Jaminan hukum akan terjaganya kerasahiaan bagi para wajib pajak

• Pungutan pajak tidak mengganggu perekonomian

Pemungutan pajak harus diusahakan sedemikian rupa agar tidak mengganggu kondisi perekonomian, baik kegiatan produksi, perdagangan, maupun jasa. Pemungutan pajak jangan sampai merugikan kepentingan masyarakat dan menghambat lajunya usaha masyarakat pemasok pajak, terutama masyarakat kecil dan menengah.

• Pemungutan pajak harus efesien

Biaya-biaya yang dikeluarkan dalam rangka pemungutan pajak harus diperhitungkan. Jangan sampai pajak yang diterima lebih rendah daripada biaya pengurusan pajak tersebut. Oleh karena itu, sistem pemungutan pajak harus sederhana dan mudah untuk dilaksanakan. Dengan demikian, wajib pajak tidak akan mengalami kesulitan dalam pembayaran pajak baik dari segi penghitungan maupun dari segi waktu.

• Sistem pemungutan pajak harus sederhana

Bagaimana pajak dipungut akan sangat menentukan keberhasilan dalam pungutan pajak. Sistem yang sederhana akan memudahkan wajib pajak dalam menghitung beban pajak yang harus dibiayai sehingga akan memberikan dapat positif bagi para wajib pajak untuk meningkatkan kesadaran dalam pembayaran pajak. Sebaliknya, jika sistem pemungutan pajak rumit, orang akan semakin enggan membayar pajak.

Contoh:

• Bea materai disederhanakan dari 167 macam tarif menjadi 2 macam tarif
• Tarif PPN yang beragam disederhanakan menjadi hanya satu tarif, yaitu 10%
• Pajak perseorangan untuk badan dan pajak pendapatan untuk perseorangan disederhanakan menjadi pajak penghasilan (PPh) yang berlaku bagi badan maupun perseorangan (pribadi)

Asas pemungutan

Asas pemungutan pajak menurut pendapat para ahli

Untuk dapat mencapai tujuan dari pemungutan pajak, beberapa ahli yang mengemukakan tentang asas pemungutan pajak, antara lain:

Adam Smith, pencetus teori The Four Maxims

1. Menurut Adam Smith dalam bukunya Wealth of Nations dengan ajaran yang terkenal "The Four Maxims", asas pemungutan pajak adalah sebagai berikut.

• Asas Equality (asas keseimbangan dengan kemampuan atau asas keadilan): pemungutan pajak yang dilakukan oleh negara harus sesuai dengan kemampuan dan penghasilan wajib pajak. Negara tidak boleh bertindak diskriminatif terhadap wajib pajak.

• Asas Certainty (asas kepastian hukum): semua pungutan pajak harus berdasarkan UU, sehingga bagi yang melanggar akan dapat dikenai sanksi hukum.

• Asas Convinience of Payment (asas pemungutan pajak yang tepat waktu atau asas kesenangan): pajak harus dipungut pada saat yang tepat bagi wajib pajak (saat yang paling baik), misalnya disaat wajib pajak baru menerima penghasilannya atau disaat wajib pajak menerima hadiah.

• Asas Effeciency (asas efesien atau asas ekonomis): biaya pemungutan pajak diusahakan sehemat mungkin, jangan sampai terjadi biaya pemungutan pajak lebih besar dari hasil pemungutan pajak.

2. Menurut W.J. Langen, asas pemungutan pajak adalah sebagai berikut.

• Asas daya pikul: besar kecilnya pajak yang dipungut harus berdasarkan besar kecilnya penghasilan wajib pajak. Semakin tinggi penghasilan maka semakin tinggi pajak yang dibebankan.

• Asas manfaat: pajak yang dipungut oleh negara harus digunakan untuk kegiatan-kegiatan yang bermanfaat untuk kepentingan umum.

• Asas kesejahteraan: pajak yang dipungut oleh negara digunakan untuk meningkatkan kesejahteraan rakyat.

• Asas kesamaan: dalam kondisi yang sama antara wajib pajak yang satu dengan yang lain harus dikenakan pajak dalam jumlah yang sama (diperlakukan sama).

• Asas beban yang sekecil-kecilnya: pemungutan pajak diusahakan sekecil-kecilnya (serendah-rendahnya) jika dibandinglan sengan nilai obyek pajak. Sehingga tidak memberatkan para wajib pajak.

3. Menurut Adolf Wagner, asas pemungutan pahak adalah sebagai berikut.

• Asas politik finalsial : pajak yang dipungut negara jumlahnya memadadi sehingga dapat membiayai atau mendorong semua kegiatan negara

• Asas ekonomi: penentuan obyek pajak harus tepat Misalnya: pajak pendapatan, pajak untuk barang-barang mewah

• Asas keadilan yaitu pungutan pajak berlaku secara umum tanpa diskriminasi, untuk kondisi yang sama diperlakukan sama pula.

• Asas administrasi: menyangkut masalah kepastian perpajakan (kapan, dimana harus membayar pajak), keluwesan penagihan (bagaimana cara membayarnya) dan besarnya biaya pajak.

• Asas yuridis segala pungutan pajak harus berdasarkan Undang-Undang.

Asas Pengenaan Pajak

Agar negara dapat mengenakan pajak kepada warganya atau kepada orang pribadi atau badan lain yang bukan warganya, tetapi mempunyai keterkaitan dengan negara tersebut, tentu saja harus ada ketentuan-ketentuan yang mengaturnya. Sebagai contoh di Indonesia, secara tegas dinyatakan dalam Pasal 23 ayat (2) Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 bahwa segala pajak untuk keuangan negara ditetapkan berdasarkan undang-undang. Untuk dapat menyusun suatu undang-undang perpajakan, diperlukan asas-asas atau dasar-dasar yang akan dijadikan landasan oleh negara untuk mengenakan pajak.

Terdapat beberapa asas yang dapat dipakai oleh negara sebagai asas dalam menentukan wewenangnya untuk mengenakan pajak, khususnya untuk pengenaan pajak penghasilan. Asas utama yang paling sering digunakan oleh negara sebagai landasan untuk mengenakan pajak adalah:

1. Asas domisili atau disebut juga asas kependudukan (domicile/residence principle), berdasarkan asas ini negara akan mengenakan pajak atas suatu penghasilan yang diterima atau diperoleh orang pribadi atau badan, apabila untuk kepentingan perpajakan, orang pribadi tersebut merupakan penduduk (resident) atau berdomisili di negara itu atau apabila badan yang bersangkutan berkedudukan di negara itu. Dalam kaitan ini, tidak dipersoalkan dari mana penghasilan yang akan dikenakan pajak itu berasal. Itulah sebabnya bagi negara yang menganut asas ini, dalam sistem pengenaan pajak terhadap penduduk-nya akan menggabungkan asas domisili (kependudukan) dengan konsep pengenaan pajak atas penghasilan baik yang diperoleh di negara itu maupun penghasilan yang diperoleh di luar negeri (world-wide income concept).
2. Asas sumber, Negara yang menganut asas sumber akan mengenakan pajak atas suatu penghasilan yang diterima atau diperoleh orang pribadi atau badan hanya apabila penghasilan yang akan dikenakan pajak itu diperoleh atau diterima oleh orang pribadi atau badan yang bersangkutan dari sumber-sumber yang berada di negara itu. Dalam asas ini, tidak menjadi persoalan mengenai siapa dan apa status dari orang atau badan yang memperoleh penghasilan tersebut sebab yang menjadi landasan penge¬naan pajak adalah objek pajak yang timbul atau berasal dari negara itu. Contoh: Tenaga kerja asing bekerja di Indonesia maka dari penghasilan yang didapat di Indonesia akan dikenakan pajak oleh pemerintah Indonesia.
3. Asas kebangsaan atau asas nasionalitas atau disebut juga asas kewarganegaraan (nationality/citizenship principle).Dalam asas ini, yang menjadi landasan pengenaan pajak adalah status kewarganegaraan dari orang atau badan yang memperoleh penghasilan. Berdasarkan asas ini, tidaklah menjadi persoalan dari mana penghasilan yang akan dikenakan pajak berasal. Seperti halnya dalam asas domisili, sistem pengenaan pajak berdasarkan asas nasionalitas ini dilakukan dengan cara mengga¬bungkan asas nasionalitas dengan konsep pengenaan pajak atas world wide income.

Terdapat beberapa perbedaan prinsipil antara asas domisili atau kependudukan dan asas nasionalitas atau kewarganegaraan di satu pihak, dengan asas sumber di pihak lainnya. Pertama, pada kedua asas yang disebut pertama, kriteria yang dijadikan landasan kewenangan negara untuk mengenakan pajak adalah status subjek yang akan dikenakan pajak, yaitu apakah yang bersangkutan berstatus sebagai penduduk atau berdomisili (dalam asas domisili) atau berstatus sebagai warga negara (dalam asas nasionalitas). Di sini, asal muasal penghasilan yang menjadi objek pajak tidaklah begitu penting. Sementara itu, pada asas sumber, yang menjadi landasannya adalah status objeknya, yaitu apakah objek yang akan dikenakan pajak bersumber dari negara itu atau tidak. Status dari orang atau badan yang memperoleh atau menerima penghasilan tidak begitu penting. Kedua, pada kedua asas yang disebut pertama, pajak akan dikenakan terhadap penghasilan yang diperoleh di mana saja (world-wide income), sedangkan pada asas sumber, penghasilan yang dapat dikenakan pajak hanya terbatas pada penghasilan-penghasilan yang diperoleh dari sumber-sumber yang ada di negara yang bersangkutan.

Kebanyakan negara, tidak hanya mengadopsi salah satu asas saja, tetapi mengadopsi lebih dari satu asas, bisa gabungan asas domisili dengan asas sumber, gabungan asas nasionalitas dengan asas sumber, bahkan bisa gabungan ketiganya sekaligus.

Indonesia, dari ketentuan-ketentuan yang dimuat dalam Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 1983 sebagaimana terakhir telah diubah dengan Undang-Undang Nomor 10 Tahun 1994, khususnya yang mengatur mengenai subjek pajak dan objek pajak, dapat disimpulkan bahwa Indonesia menganut asas domisili dan asas sumber sekaligus dalam sistem perpajakannya. Indonesia juga menganut asas kewarganegaraan yang parsial, yaitu khusus dalam ketentuan yang mengatur mengenai pengecualian subjek pajak untuk orang pribadi.

Jepang, misalnya untuk individu yang merupakan penduduk (resident individual) menggunakan asas domisili, di mana berdasarkan asas ini seorang penduduk Jepang berkewajiban membayar pajak penghasilan atas keseluruhan penghasilan yang diperolehnya, baik yang diperoleh di Jepang maupun di luar Jepang. Sementara itu, untuk yang bukan penduduk (non-resident) Jepang, dan badan-badan usaha luar negeri berkewajiban untuk membayar pajak penghasilan atas setiap penghasilan yang diperoleh dari sumber-sumber di Jepang.

Australia, untuk semua badan usaha milik negara maupun swasta yang berkedudukan di Australia, dikenakan pajak atas seluruh penghasilan yang diperoleh dari seluruh sumber penghasilan. Semen¬tara itu, untuk badan usaha luar negeri, hanya dikenakan pajak atas penghasilan dari sumber yang ada di Australia.

Teori pemungutan

Menurut R. Santoso Brotodiharjo SH, dalam bukunya Pengantar Ilmu Hukum Pajak, ada beberapa teori yang mendasari adanya pemungutan pajak, yaitu:

1. Teori asuransi, menurut teori ini, negara mempunyai tugas untuk melindungi warganya dari segala kepentingannya baik keselamatan jiwanya maupun keselamatan harta bendanya. Untuk perlindungan tersebut diperlukan biaya seperti layaknya dalam perjanjian asuransi deiperlukan adanya pembayaran premi. Pembayaran pajak ini dianggap sebagai pembayaran premi kepada negara. Teori ini banyajk ditentang karena negara tidak boleh disamakan dengan perusahaan asuransi.
2. Teori kepentingan, menurut teori ini, dasar pemungutan pajak adalah adanya kepentingan dari masing-masing warga negara. Termasuk kepentingan dalam perlindungan jiwa dan harta. Semakin tinggi tingkat kepentingan perlindungan, maka semakin tinggi pula pajak yang harus dibayarkan. Teori ini banyak ditentang, karena pada kenyataannya bahwa tingkat kepentingan perlindungan orang miskin lebih tinggi daripada orang kaya. Ada perlindungan jaminan sosial, kesehatan, dan lain-lain. Bahkan orang yang miskin justru dibebaskan dari beban pajak.

Penerimaan Pajak di Indonesia

Target penerimaan negara Indonesia di sektor pajak tahun 2006 secara nasional sebesar Rp 362 trilyun atau mengalami peningkatan 20 persen dari 2005 lalu. Angka tersebut terdiri Rp 325 trilyun dari pajak dan Rp 37 trilyun dari Pajak Penghasilan (PPh) Migas.

Target penerimaan negara dari perpajakan dalam APBN 2006 mencapai Rp.402,1 triliun. Target penerimaan itu antara lain berasal dari:

• Pajak Penghasilan (PPh) Rp.198,22 triliun
• Pajak Pertambahan Nilai dan Pajak Penjualan atas Barang Mewah (PPN dan PPnBM) Rp.126,76 triliun
• Pajak Bumi dan Bangunan (PBB) Rp.15,67 triliun
• Bea Perolehan Hak atas Tanah dan Bangunan (BPHTB) Rp.5,06 triliun
• penerimaan pajak lainnya Rp.2,76 triliun.

Pendapatan pajak itu sudah termasuk pendapatan cukai Rp.36,1 triliun, bea masuk Rp.17,04 triliun dan pendapatan pungutan ekspor Rp.398,1 miliar. Total penerimaan pajak dalam lima tahun terakhir (2001-2005) sudah mencapai 1.040 triliun.

The International Movie 2009

Plot of The International Movie :
In The International, Interpol Agent Louis Salinger and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman are determined to bring to justice one of the world's most powerful banks. Uncovering illegal activities including money laundering, arms trading, and the destabilization of governments, Salinger and Whitman's investigation takes them from Berlin to Milan to New York and to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as the bank will stop at nothing - even murder - to continue financing terror and war. Written by production

The Interpol Agent Louis Salinger and his partner are investigating the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC). This investigation is with with the District Attorney, Eleanor Whitman, from Manhattan in a two hundred million dollars illegal business of weapons trading. They schedule a meeting with an insider informer from IBBC at the Central Station in Berlin; however his partner is mysteriously killed after the encounter. Salinger finds the identity of the informer when he sees that the Vice President of Acquisitions André Clement had died in a car accident. Salinger and Whitman head to Milan where they meet the politician Umberto Calvini, who is a big arms manufacturer, and he explains that IBBC is interested in buying the missile guiding system that he produces in his factory. When Calvini is murdered by a sniper in a political rally, Salinger and Whitman head to New York following the killer and later to Istanbul, and disclose a scheme of arms supply and destabilization of governments to make their nations slaves of debt. Further, the bank is protected by legal systems and only if Salinger crosses the line he might bring some justice to the corrupt system. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
source : IMDB

Flirting ke side effects!- Part 2: The Beginning

"To start with you should start flirting with your good friend's girl friend, whom you are acquainted with", Neelz (Neelaksh) said. "They seem to make not a big fuss about it. And they enjoy the attention ;-)
Second you can target a good female friend who is married, again a safe territory. While there are boundaries here but I am sure you wouldn't reach those.” the expert advised.



"And third priority come friends who are seeing other guys. At fourth level is option of flirting with single friends of yours. And my friend the territory which shouldn't be explored is the friend of yours, who recently broke up.", Neelz said as he concluded his statement.

"Wow that was enlightening. Thanks", Uday said as he hung up. "What the crap. As if there was something new to it. I will manage on my own. I have had colorful past.” he smirked as he thought.

He checked his online friend list on gtalk. Soumya was online.

"Hey! aaabbbbbbbbbddddddddaaaaabbbbbbbbdddddaaabbbbbddddd", he pinged her.

After 10 seconds the reply came. "Yeah it’s been really long 'time' and we finally 'c' each other now :D"

"Hmmm! I am telling you must have been very smart to decipher that. I tried that on a dozen of my friends. None of them could understand. You are one intelligent lass"

"LOLz! Stop flattering! So how come you ping suddenly? You are in Australia na?"

"Hmm! Aise hi, thought about catching up with old sweethearts ;)"

"Hehe! Me? Your sweetheart? Nice joke"

"Arre it's true. It just happened that Anjali proposed me when I was just about starting to think about you!"

"Ahaan! Liar. Are you trying to flirt? Am no more single you see :P"

"Damn! I should be given another chance. It's not fair :'("
------------------------------------------------------------------
He Gmail read

....Chat with Swati Sharma (546 lines)
....Chat with Arundhati Dua (466 lines)
....Chat with Divya Taneja (587 lines)




"I saw a flower and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw until I gazed at the FB pic of yours ;)"

"Very Funny! Plagiarism! Joey Season 1 episode 18", Sanskriti replied

"Ooops! Hey he didn't say the FB part you see. I am original"

"No! -200 for copy paste"

"Noooo :( Accha... If I supposed to travel with you in Tube (or Delhi Metro is it), I would intentionally chose to let go off the support pillar, so that every time the train stops or starts, I may have an excuse to hold you from your waist to pretend you saved me from falling"

"Wow! that's a new one! ummmmm +10"

"What!! That was great and I need to make 20 such just to recover what I lost due to Joey! :( "

"Hehe don't be sad!"

"No I am. In fact a bit angry. I am coming over to Delhi for couple of months at least. I was planning that probably we could meet up. But I think things aren't meant this way"

"Wow! you are coming over... Okay sorry! Will you meet up now?"

"Hmmm Don't know. I can't say for sure but I would think about it :-|"

"Awww so cute! :-* A flying kiss!"

"Huh! Whatever :")"

"Hehe! You have a blush for that!! :)"

Nikita pinged by the time "Hi Sugar! ;)"



"Chalo Babes you sleep! I have got some work to do. Take care. Miss me ;)"

"Yeah! Sure bbye"

---------------------------------------------------

"Hey Niki babes! Every time I move my cursor to the Gtalk friend list over to your name, you ping me first! This is not done"

" :) "

"Accha I am coming over to Delhi for a couple of months."

"Cool! That is great"

"Just that! I thought you would like to ask me out! ;)"

"I think you should have asked that to me. "

"Oh! Don't give me that Sh** that only guys should ask out..blaah blaah"

":P
But have you done anything special for me to do so?"

"Hmmm How about sneaking in, when your husband is out for a couple of days?"

"Ewwww! You cheapster! :P"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

A month later

Indira Gandhi International Airport


"Hey Neelz! Nice to see you man!"

"Yeah! You look great buddy! Didn't you bring some Aussie lass with you", Neelz said winking.

"Naah! I should have mentioned Neelz is here. Damn!"

"Hehe koi na! Remember for next time. Anyways now you are here we can Tango! ;)"



"Yeah! Hey check out that cute chick at '1 'o clock'!", he said without pointing.

"Yeah you bastard! She's your sister-in-law. Respect her"

And they had a small laugh about it.

Flirting ke side effects!- Part 1: The Setup

Uday was leading a successful life as a Consultant at one of top notch Business Analytics firms in Gurgaon. He had a beautiful relationship going on until he decided to move to Sydney for a better opportunity. The new job paid him handsomely. But he didn't realize what it was taking away from him.



A couple of months into new job and he could see his relationship of four years falling apart. This was his longest relationship since he started dating in Senior secondary. None of them lasted more than an year. The distance was doing them apart.

He tried the best to revive it, but wasn't really ready to make any sacrifice to restore it. Of course at this age, mind speaks much over the heart. He thought the break up won't affect him to much extent. And he wasn't unreasonable in that expectation considering the history of over half a dozen affairs that he had in past. But the contingency that he was going to miss was "Four long years".

He initially fail to notice the initial inroads of heart spasms into the left side of the chest, dismissing it as some Gastrogenic ailment. But doctor said he was healthy as a horse. All he would like to do was to get drunk every other day in some country bar. Gradually he began to relate the change in him with the ripple of the broken relationship. He decided to make amends.

"Hi, Uday here, I'm Sonam's friend"
"Hi I am Meghna, Sonam's sister. Actually she is busy in the Mehndi before the ring ceremony. I would convey your wishes anyways."
After a pause he said "Thank You" and hung up.

He always thought he could make up for lost time. But here he knew he was too late. A suggestion of picking some random girl up from a bar to get over it was given by Peter, his colleague. But he detested the idea.



He called up his best friend back home in India, Neelaksh. Neelaksh was the one person he always looked upon when he needed advice and vice versa. He explained the scenario to him and asked him a way to get over Sonam.

"Buddy! Flirting to the extent you can is the only solution. Get into your orkut and facebook accounts, Ruffle up all the contacts you have. Gather the potential targets singles or otherwise. And get started. And beware of doing flirting too much just with a single girl, else you will spell your doom"

Now that was something he hadn't done in past four years. Though he thought he was good on that earlier.

The flirting cure was about to begin!

Edge of Darkness Movie 2010

Plot of Edge of Darkness :
By moonlight, three bodies float to the surface of the western Massachusetts stretch of the Connecticut river. At South Station, Boston, Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) picks up his daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic), who has returned home to visit. She throws up, while getting into Thomas' car. At home, as he prepares a meal, Emma starts a nosebleed and vomits violently and as they hurriedly leave to find a hospital, a masked gunman yells, “Craven,” and fires two shotgun blasts at Emma simultaneously. Blasted through the door, she dies in Thomas' arms.

At first, everyone believes that Thomas, a police detective, was the gunman's target, but when Thomas finds Emma had a pistol in her night stand, he starts to suspect that Emma was an intended target. He checks the ownership of the pistol and finds that it belongs to her boyfriend David (Shawn Roberts). David is frightened of the company Northmoor where Emma worked and Thomas discovers that Emma became aware that Northmoor was manufacturing nuclear weapons, intended to be traced to foreign nations if they are used as dirty bombs. Following the failed break-in of the activists, Emma was poisoned with thallium through a carton of organic milk. Burning her effects in his lawn, Thomas encounters Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), a "consultant" tasked to prevent Craven from discovering Emma's information, or kill him. Liking each other, instead, Jedburgh leaves Thomas to investigate. Throughout the film, Thomas repeatedly imagines he hears and sees his daughter, even having short conversations and interactions with her.

Thomas also has several encounters with Northmoor mercenaries, and he eventually discovers through Emma's activist contact that Jack Bennett (Danny Huston), head of Northmoor, ordered the murder of his daughter, as well as the activists Emma was working with to steal evidence of the illegal nuclear weapons (the bodies in the opening). Northmoor personnel kill a hitman marked as a fall guy after he is set up for killing Emma's boyfriend, and attempt to murder another activist who gave Emma's information to Thomas. After confronting a lawyer and Senator that Emma contacted, revealing that they know almost everything that happened, Bennett has Northmoor operatives allow Thomas to be poisoned with thallium, as his daughter had been.

Thomas, now very sick, arrives at Bennett's house and kills the mercenaries, one of whom Thomas realizes is the man who shot his daughter. Bennett shoots Thomas, but Thomas tackles Bennett and pulls out the radioactive milk. He forces it down Bennett's throat and collapses. Bennett runs to his cabinet to get pills to counteract the radioactivity but Tom drags himself over and shoots Bennett through the throat, killing him.

Thomas is hospitalized for the gunshot wounds and radioactive poisoning. Jedburgh, who is revealed to be suffering from a terminal illness, meets with Moore, the Senator (for whom he had been working) and the political advisor who assigned Jedburgh to eliminate Craven. He listens to their suggestions as to how to play the Northmoor incident in a positive light. He tells them that he is done and then suggests an assassination attempt on the Senator should be the feature story, to drive Bennett’s death out of the tabloids. They are happy to go along with the story until Jedburgh tells the senator that he is on the wrong side of the equation. Jedburgh then pulls out his gun and shoots all three men dead before a young Massachusetts State Trooper comes in, gun drawn. Jedburgh gets the drop on the trooper and asks if the young man has a family and kids. The young man says yes and Jedburgh lowers his gun, and is instantly shot and killed by the trooper.

As Thomas lies dying in the hospital, we see Emma walk into his room, then lean down at his bedside and whisper in his ear. Across town, a young reporter opens a letter from Thomas with DVDs revealing the conspiracy, with Thomas's “good luck” wishes, ensuring the company's end. As he dies, Emma comforts him. Then the father and daughter leave the hospital together, walking down the corridor into a bright, white light.
Source article : Wikipedia

Flirting ke side effects!- A prologue!

When almighty (for atheist people, chemical reactions!) created the two characters called man and woman, she (A 'he' can't be so creative) must have realized what excellent job it was.



The two characters are miles apart in thinking, decision making process, planning and execution. Yet some funny hormones (chemistry people' delight second time in this prose) attract them to each other (though sometimes among themselves)

Women (a tricky word), become more complex to understand as the chronological watch progresses. When they are girls of sub-10, they want ice creams, Barbies and gossip, when they are 15 they are into chocolates and gossip, at 20 stuff toys, cards, new Boyfriend and gossip, at 25 steady job with steady boyfriend along with gossip and at 30 ways to have peace with Mother-in-law and Gossip. (I am still on learning curve to understand women past 30, a topic way too complex at this time)




So basically their needs change drastically over the course of time. (As a learned man, you need to avoid the gossip part if you want peace in your life)

Another way to see things: Lollypop (damn you wretched mind, it’s a baby girl) - Ice-creams - Chocolates - BF's lips - Pizza - Lose fat pills
(I carefully chose to avoid second kind of pills)

For guys: Sub-10: Sports and Video games, 15: Sports and Video Games, 20: Sports (The 'ball' from "running behind the ball" and "hitting a ball" may sometimes change to 'girls') and VIDEO games (video type changes a bit!), 25: Sports and Video games (unchanged from previous), 30+: Sports (small change might be catching flying saucers instead of balls to avoid being hit by them. The previous years practice comes handy) and Video games (regular as well as the evolved one, when wife has a series of repeated headaches at night and he has a DVD player with wireless headphones)




Summarizing, reaching consistency and conciliation with time.

Although this has nothing much to do directly with the story that follows, this might set an interesting pretext. :)

The Surrogates Movie Pictures

The Surrogates Movie Pictures

Inkheart The Movie 2009

Inkheart is about a 12-year old girl named Meggie Folchart who has been curious about the disappearance of her mother when she was still a child. Her life changes in an instant when she realizes that her father Mortimer or Mo, a bookbinder has a unique ability; every time he reads a book aloud, he can bring the characters into the real world, but it brings a person from the real world to the book as an exchange. When Meggie and her father went to a city, a stranger approached her and learned that the stranger whose name is Dustfinger is acquainted with her father. Mo, that time, was on denial about what had happened to his wife and dragged Meggie away. They went to her mother’s aunt, Elinor. But Dustfinger managed to follow them and confronted Mo about the book, the Inkheart. A group of strangers appeared and captured Meggie, Mo, Dustfinger and Elinor. Meggie learns that all of them will be brought to a mysterious man named Capricorn.

inkheart8Capricorn is also a character in a book that was brought to the real world. He fancied the real world and didn’t want to go back in the book again. He built his castle and seeks for Mo whom he referred to as “Silver-tongued”. He used Mo to read portions in the book that will bring him wealth. Mo, Meggie, and Elinor were imprisoned while Dustfinger discovered that Mo’s wife was no longer in the book and was held as a servant in the castle’s kitchen. Dustfinger made an exchanged promise with Mo that he would help him find his wife in return that he will read him back in the book. They escaped in the castle and searched for the original writer of the Inkheart hoping that they would find a last copy of the book as Capricorn burned theirs. Mo and Dustfinger went back to castle to rescue his wife. Meggie on the other hand was entrusted to the author. By then, she discovered that she inherited the gift of his father; she also is a Silver-tongue. In search for Mo and Dustfinger, Meggie was brought back to the castle in exchange. Actually, the story is really for children. Even of not finishing it, viewers will immediately understand how will they be able to solve do their adventures. The first part is really boring and will leave you clueless. They didn’t even present the origin of the Silver-tongues. Good thing the latter part of the movie was a bit nice. Especially the effects, it was well done and the girl who played Meggie is very pretty.
source : http://carogireviews.wordpress.com

"Living in" thy dream B-school!

An year ago, I came across this articles about how prevalent is live-in relationships in premier B-schools of India. The article talked about high occurrence rates especially in IIMs. Wow! I had one more reason to give my best shot in the final selection procedure for the B-schools I got call from.

Now for those who are oblivious to the fact that most B-schools don't have a separate girls' hostel building. Even if they have, there is no restriction about guys entering in there. Now 90% of IIM Students comprise of Engineers, who have never seen the 'greenery' of DU, the 'spice' of Wilsons, Mithibais etc, this does sound an exciting proposition.

Of course girls reading this may disregard this by calling it their desperateness but spare a thought about this extremely 'Unrare' species called 'ENGINEER'

In the class of 60, there are 6-9 girls in a typical Engg college. Now you can imagine what intra-gender competition guys face. And there living style: A beard that can accommodate a couple of cuckoos, a pair of jeans that hasn't been washed for a month or so, a wallet that is empty after the 10th of the month. These rarely make them attractive preposition to get a date from outside their colleges. Moreover the girls' hostel entry is barred after 8:30; Guys can't enter into their hostel premises.

Now would you blame if the poor guy's eyes sparkle after seeing a report about living-in in one of their dream B-School (Engg graduate anyways don't have any other dream other than this).



But there are clauses that people miss most of the time. As the proportion of Engg is as high as 90% in B-Schools, the fairer sex proportion is also almost the same. Although the farfetched light in the tunnel is, that contrary to engineering colleges, the girls are bit more attractive and that is primarily because the chunk of Non-Engineering graduates are girls.

When I came to IIM-Kozhikode, I believed the place is too unfavorably sex-ratio’ed to prove the point of the article I read. The concept of open hostels and timings was something new and took some time to digest. But course and curriculum ensure that your mind is packed with enough assignments that you have to make special efforts even to think about thinking to develop any romantic notions even in such environment.

But there are some born winners who do live up-to the media reports. :)

In an essence I don't counter their claims. To some extent the media reports are surely exaggerated. Many such 'branded' live-ins as merely platonic and friendly. I know some of people in my batch who leave over their set of toothbrush kit in another room apart from books and notes. But they are really cute. A couple of people in my senior batch looked inseparably good together as 'great friends'. Somewhere down the line people don't tend to exploit the benefits or freedom given to them as much as they planned before. It's same as providing a complete replacement warranty without much ado and yet customers don't purposefully mess with their machines just before the warranty period expires. :)




P.S. The instances may be more in IIM-A because, people don't have anything else to get 'high' on! ;)..... hic!!!