Hans van Schoot
ReindeR RustemaThe Dutch version of The Onion with a piece about a Dodge RAM owner moaning about €200 to refuel.
Toast, Anonymous Fedi Fungus@notjustbikes @rrustema020 benzineslurpende is my new favorite Dutch word.
Sari Mikkonen 🇫🇮🌻🇪🇺@ShiitakeToast @notjustbikes @rrustema020 I was also delighted that I was able to understand one word of Dutch
Matúš Chochlík@rrustema020 @notjustbikes we need something like this for all the very smart people driving Ford F150s here is Slovakia too..
MrAndrewDDitto the Australian version "The shovel".
https://theshovel.com.au/2026/03/18/dickhead-with-ute-taller-than-himself-not-so-smug-about-it-now/
@MrAndrewD @notjustbikes Ah, and ute refers to utility vehicle I see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)
"a term used in Australia and New Zealand to describe vehicles with a tonneau behind the passenger compartment, that can be driven with a regular driver's licence."
Raglan Niall 
Qole@MrAndrewD @dgoldsmith @rrustema020 @notjustbikes
Best line:
"...staring in mounting horror as the pump ticked past a figure normally associated with emergency plumbing..."
Best line:
"...staring in mounting horror as the pump ticked past a figure normally associated with emergency plumbing..."
Peter Brown@MrAndrewD @rrustema020 @notjustbikes that vehicle should not be allowed on the public road. It’s a child killer.
Thankfully it would not be allowed to be sold I n the EU
Dave Neary@peterbrown @MrAndrewD @rrustema020 @notjustbikes I think they're legal in the EU. Expensive to fill up, heavily taxed, difficult to park, a bit wide for the roads, but street legal.
@dneary @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes And recently I found out that small business owners use the costs of such a monstertruck as a way to bring the profits of their one man company down so they are taxed less.
They need a car for their tools and materials anyway and now they get more pleasure and status out of it.
Their job by itself gives less of that? And they like to Dodge taxes just like their big hero entrepreneurs?
@rrustema020 @dneary @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes I have often suggested disallowing cars, small vans, petrol and diesel against tax, and allowing all public transport fares against tax. It could cause a surprising amount of modal shift, especially amongst higher-rate taxpayers.
And it would remove the incentive to buy these monsters.
And it would remove the incentive to buy these monsters.
@peterbrown @dneary @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes
With disallowing those against tax you mean that they can't be used as costs to reduce taxable profits?
Not a native speaker, and not tax savy, so I don't know 'against tax' as an expression.
@rrustema020 @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes Businesses have costs, and those costs of doing business are deduced from gross revenue - taxes are paid on profits, not revenues. Business owners sometimes spend money from their profits on nice things that they don't strictly need, in order to reduce taxable profits, as long as they can claim the nice things as legitimate business expenses.
@rrustema020 @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes Every country has rules about what you can claim as legitimate business expenses - clearly gas and diesel for delivery vehicles and work vans is a legitimate business expense, but things like nice trucks, computers, etc. are often fully deduced from the gross while the company could fulfill the functional need with something cheaper.
@dneary @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes Right, I understand you correctly now.
And I can think of something like the size, shape and weight of a category of cars similar to the Mercedes Vito as legit for a business.
The rear windows should be blinded etc.
@rrustema020 @dneary @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes I would disallow anything that can be driven on an ordinary car licence, and only allow vehicles that require a professional licence.
@rrustema020 @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes The IRS could behave like health insurance companies and set limits on how much you can deduct for different things - so much for vehicle leasing or purchase, so much per mile for gas, etc. But that becomes an anto-business tax policy very quickly & easily and adds massive filing burdens for SMBs.
@dneary @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes
Right, whatever rule, it should be extremely simple to roll out.
Fair, but with minimal filing burdens. Nothing at all would meet that requirement.
@rrustema020 @dneary @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes it’s not complicated. There are expenses which are allowable and there are expenses which are not. Just add anything that you can drive on a car licence to the list of expenses which are not allowable
Simples!
@peterbrown @rrustema020 @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes So people driving taxis, small coaches (under 15 people), Uber Eats/Door dash vehicles cannot deduct the costs of running their vehicles or the acquisition cost? Seems wrong.
@dneary @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes
Please explain this to a person like me who last took a taxi years ago, last ordered take out during the pandemic (a bicyclist delivered it) and who is a big fan of public transport, bicycling, and renting vehicles.
To me it sounds great to make these services more expensive, it will benefit the alternatives. But I could be wrong.
@rrustema020 @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes We hit on a key point - fiscal policy is about a few different things:
1. Managing inflation - taxing people takes money out of the economy, Government spending puts money into the economy. Tax policy's first job is to prevent the economy from overheating.
2. Wealth redistribution - in the absence of intervention, wealth floats to the top. Progressive fiscal policy takes more from the wealthy and subsidizes the poor, for the good of society (1/2)
1. Managing inflation - taxing people takes money out of the economy, Government spending puts money into the economy. Tax policy's first job is to prevent the economy from overheating.
2. Wealth redistribution - in the absence of intervention, wealth floats to the top. Progressive fiscal policy takes more from the wealthy and subsidizes the poor, for the good of society (1/2)
@rrustema020 @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes
3. Creation of incentives/expression of values - this is what you're alluding to. We tax tobacco and alcohol sales because as a society we see those as bad and want to discourage them. We subsidize behaviour that we want to encourage (spending on energy efficient homes or EVs over ICE vehicles).
3. Creation of incentives/expression of values - this is what you're alluding to. We tax tobacco and alcohol sales because as a society we see those as bad and want to discourage them. We subsidize behaviour that we want to encourage (spending on energy efficient homes or EVs over ICE vehicles).
@rrustema020 @peterbrown @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes You're arguing that creating a tax system that increases the costs of running a taxi and makes taxis more expensive will discourage cars and encourage the use of public transport. You might be right - but if public transport does not fill the need (eg. if the quantity/quality/reliability of public transport is poor), all you will do is deprive people who would otherwise do that job of a livelihood and create a shortage of taxis.
@dneary @rrustema020 @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes many taxi drivers will be affected and will increase prices but the majority of delivery drivers on bicycles and motorbikes do not earn enough to pay any tax at all so the effect will be zero.
But there is quite a constituency of workers who use cars but don’t really need to and they get them tax free. A wealthy country is not one where everybody has a car, but where the rich use public transport.
@peterbrown @dneary @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes
At least in Amsterdam taxi drivers are complaining about the low prices and the abundance of taxis. They all want others to stop with this profession, stop driving a taxi, so prices can go up.
The boss of the major taxi company TCA once explained to me that this profession is the most attractive job if you have zero qualifications. She added that she repeatedly sees them make extremely bad choices as entrepreneurs.
Less taxis is good.
Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱@dneary @rrustema020 @peterbrown @MrAndrewD
You will also make it significantly more difficult to properly fund public transportation if the alternatives are artificially cheap through subsidies and tax breaks.
Cars are extremely harmful to society. They should not receive any subsidies of any kind at all.
@rrustema020 @dneary @MrAndrewD @notjustbikes exactly so.
Some expenses are allowable against tax; in other words to reduce your tax liability. Some expenses are not allowable, depending on the country. Here entertainment such as buying meals is not allowable against tax, although the business may regard buying lunch for a client as a legitimate business expense.
In the same way, I suggest private transport be disallowed.
Some expenses are allowable against tax; in other words to reduce your tax liability. Some expenses are not allowable, depending on the country. Here entertainment such as buying meals is not allowable against tax, although the business may regard buying lunch for a client as a legitimate business expense.
In the same way, I suggest private transport be disallowed.
@dneary @MrAndrewD @rrustema020 @notjustbikes only as a personal import. They can’t be sold commercially in the EU as they don’t satisfy the safety regulations the construction regulations or the fuel consumption regulations.
One of which is that the driver must be able to see the road ahead from the driving seat and in that vehicle the driver can see absolutely nothing.
One of which is that the driver must be able to see the road ahead from the driving seat and in that vehicle the driver can see absolutely nothing.
Andrew Hunter@rrustema020 @notjustbikes
Benzineslurper is close enough to gas-guzzler that a non-dutch speaker gets it.
Benzineslurper is close enough to gas-guzzler that a non-dutch speaker gets it.
The Penguin of Evil@rrustema020 @notjustbikes I've been making the local petrolheads annoyed by replying to any thread about petrol prices with the change so far in electricity prices.
Small pleasures.
quadrivial, tall and graying@rrustema020 @notjustbikes Thank you for introducing me to the word "benzineslurper" which I didn't believe would translate into English as it of course did 😆
tootbrute@rrustema020 @notjustbikes can't he just fill it with piss from his big dick???