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Been sleeping on this one a bit too long…Labear Day Weekend and the dogdays of summer are long over.

Okay, no more waiting around. I’ve decided to publish the Flat 5% Tax survey I put out over a week ago. At first, it had a very slow start over the Labear Day Weekend, but once we all got back on track, it racked up 25 responses, up from 13 which is a 90% increase in feedback! Much thanks to those who took the time to answer.

When I started my term as Congressmen, my mandate was to follow what people told me. The surveys were my way of listening to you. You said 4 main things:
--improve relations with eUSA,
--bring back the exPats,
--lower the taxes,
--help new players.

Source: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/scratching-the-surface-another-lousy-survey-2311454/1/20

Now I can’t take credit for the first two, but if you look around it does appear that our relations with eUSA are increasing now that DMV3 is our president. As well, we’ve seen an increase in immigration, many of these being former eCanadians. You made a wish and the genie granted it. On top of all that, Spain is off our back and eCanada is out of Asgard. Everything's coming up roses in the last few weeks. Now, I would have asked for a million bars of Gold, but I’m glad to see eCanada is getting what it wishes.

Helping new players is a bigger task than I expected. Apparently there was/is something called Boomers Academy and a Food Program that was running in eCanada in the past that were designed to target new players. It’s beyond me to get these up and going but I do think it is worth looking into. Right now it looks like the best place for new players to get help is in their Military Unit. Perhaps it is possible to evaluate which one gives the best new player support and learn from them. Also, there is Utat who was messaging new players with tips and advice, plus there is the Godfather program where I met up with Auk Rest. These are also great ideas and need to be better developed to reach out to people just starting the game.

And here’s the best news (as I see it):
The results from the survey about lowering taxes correspond best with helping new players…two things that you would like to see happen.

Why? Well take a look at all the results first and then I will explain below. The survey asked 4 questions and they are listed here along with the resuts:

1. Would you support Congress reducing Food VAT to 5%? (currently at 25😵

Yes -- >72% 18
No -- >28.00% 7

Comments(4):
--I'd prefer 1% as thanks to our Citizens staying through the WT and high prices.
9/4/2013 8:23 AM

--1%
9/3/2013 3:40 PM

--15%
8/31/2013 11:55 AM

--No with Work Tax at 1%, VAT is the government's only source of revenue!
8/31/2013 11:39 AM

2. Would you support Congress reducing Food Import Tax to 5%? (currently 10😵

Yes -- > 52% 13
No -- > 48% 12

Comments(4):
--Just lower everything in general.
9/4/2013 8:23 AM

--10-15% is fair, 25% is a bit excessive.
9/3/2013 6:28 PM

--1%
9/3/2013 3:40 PM

--This will help our market
8/31/2013 11:39 AM

3. Would you support Congress reducing Weapon VAT to 5%? (currently 15😵

Yes -- > 54.17% 13
No -- > 45.83% 11

Comments(5):
--I'd prefer 1% as thanks to our Citizens staying through the WT and high prices.
9/4/2013 8:23 AM

--10%
9/4/2013 1:48 AM

--not sure, strategic question
9/3/2013 11:34 PM

--1%
9/3/2013 3:40 PM

--As above, VAT is the only revenue of the government right now so we should not reduce it.
8/31/2013 11:39 AM

4. Would you support Congress reducing Weapon Import Tax to 5%? (currently 10😵
Answere😛 25 Skippe😛 0

Yes -- > 48% 12
No -- > 52% 13

Comments(3):
--Just lower everything in general.
9/4/2013 8:23 AM

--1%
9/3/2013 3:40 PM

--Same reason as Food Import Tax above. -Auk Rest
8/31/2013 11:39 AM


Giving taxes the boot…erm, well almost

Dropping Weapon Import Tax and VAT is of lower priority, according to what you are telling me. It is possible that some of you want those taxes even lower…like at the 1% some of the comments requested. That may be true and we will see how this pans out as DMV3 puts forward his Flat 1% Tax Plan. For me, it is too close to call around the 50% line and so there does not appear reason to propose these 3 taxes changes to Congress.

The highest support for a 5% tax was given to Food VAT:
Would you support Congress reducing Food VAT to 5%? (currently at 25😵
Yes -- >72% 18
No -- >28.00% 7

Plus, there were two comments requesting 1% Food VAT, which means that 20 out of 25 people would like to see Food VAT much reduced from its rather high rate of 25%.


WHARRGARBL

Analyzing the results:
Lower the Food VAT by 20% (or more) will help the new players, from my perspective. The most costly thing for me in the first couple weeks was food. I did not have the infrastructure to build much and didn’t have the awareness to shop smart. I needed to buy food regularly (and still do) in order to get in my fights so that I could win bazookas and rank up, with hopes to win a Battle Hero and Gold (I sucked at accomplishing that…but oh well).

For me, paying 25% extra on every piece of food was draining my limited resources. With food being expensive, how can we expect new players to feel encouraged about playing in a game whose economy is stacked against them? I know Division 1 isn’t worth much in points and the nobodies of the game are relegated to that stench-filled trench. I also know most high ranked players make their own food or have good supply lines to keep them well fed and fighting. It’s fairly easy to forget the needs of the new player who is unlikely to stick around and voice his concerns.



In a dog-eat-dog New World, it’s true that the runt of the litter gets feasted on. If you guys want to rake in tax dollars off the food of players trying to feed themselves, then that is one way to support the Old Guard(s). Leaving weapons at higher VAT is okay by me, since new players buy less of these and better off players have the means to purchase the big guns. Food is what new players purchase the most (I would expect). If people are serious about helping new players and see that cannibalizing the young with high VAT is a waste of precious resources, then I suggest you drop the Food VAT to a more reasonable level.

With all that said, I will not be advancing the other 3 tax changes but will be approaching Congress about adjusting to a 5% Food VAT. My reasons are clear but they are possibly misguided, naïve, or lacking key information. Please let me know if you think so and we’ll get your ideas into the debate before Congress votes on anything.