Ministry of Finance announces "No GST Increase"

ALSTON, NCD, Sep 30 - The Ministry of Finance has announced that tomorrow's GST rise in New Zealand will not be passed onto citizens of the FCA.

A spokesman for the Ministry yesterday announced that "GST shall apply to the FCS, but it will be set at a rate of 10%. Of course, external expenses will rise due to outside GST rises, but within our borders, customers can expect to pay a flat ten percent rate."

Some have voiced their concerns that Andersonia may be at a disadvantage before it's even founded. A Times street poll found that some think that the Government would be wise to adopt the 15% rate, or 12.5% at the least.

"If Andersonia has its GST at 10%, then it means there'll be considerable snarl-ups when trying to manage finances between us and New Zealand" one said. "If we have our GST at 15%, then the only conversion we'll need is the 1.6 for the currency."

"We'll go around in circles" said another.

The Ministry is however defending its choice to keep the GST rate at 10%. "It means that customers can be satisfied they don't have to pay too much tax on their goods, and the Government gains some income out of it. We're not the only ones that have a lower GST rate, Canada has a 5% rate, Singapore has a 7% rate, and Australia has a 10% rate like the one we are intending to implement."

However there is a chance that the 10% rate may rise in the near future. "We're not ruling out a possible rise in the future, but it won't be too severe." There is some speculation that by the end of 2011 GST may rise to 12.5% or to the New Zealand rate of 15%.

The exchange rate between the simoleon and the dollar is unchanged.

FCA Currency Announced by Ministry of Finance

The Ministry of Finance has announced that the official currency of the Federal Commonwealth of Andersonia shall be the ANDERSONIAN SIMOLEON (§, ASM). This shall be divided into shillings (s).

CURRENCY STRUCTURE

100 shillings (100s) make 1 Simoleon (§1).

10 shillings (10s) make 1 decimal (1d).

10 decimals (10d) make 1 Simoleon (§1).

25 shillings (25s) may also be written as 2/5d, or two decimals five shillings.

75 shillings (75s) may also be written as 7/5d, or seven decimals, five shillings.

25s (2/5d) shall be equal to one farthing.

50s (5d) shall be equal to one florin (two farthings).

Decimals apply to any ten-shilling total: 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d, 5d, 6d, 7d, 8d, 9d. These are the only numbers that may be used - 10d, 11d, 15d is not an accepted decimal amount and must be converted to the Simoleon.shilling format, in these cases §1, §1.10s/§1.1d, §1.15/§1.5d.

The x/5d shall not apply to any other decimal amount (1d, 3d, 4d, 6d, 8d, 9d), and the x/5d may not be used for any other shilling purpose (2/6d-26s, 4/2d-42s). This format is not necessary for a fifty shilling amount (5d, 5/0d, 5/5d).

When currency is written down WITH shillings (§2.30), the letter 's' may or may not be affixed. Either use shall be accepted (§2.30/§2.30s). However when NO Simoleons are involved the letter 's' MUST be affixed(30s).

Example amounts:

§4.30s is four Simoleons and thirty shillings.

§6.5d is six Simoleons and five decimals, or fifty shillings.

§226.7/5d is two hundred and twenty-six Simoleons and seven decimals, five shillings, or seventy-five shillings.

COINAGE AND NOTES

Coinage: 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s, §1 and §2 (that is, 1s/2s/5s/1d/2d/5d/§1/§2)

Notes: §5, §10, §20, §50, §100, §200, §500

NEW ZEALAND DOLLARS

The New Zealand Dollar ($NZ/NZD) is also legal tender in the FCA and shall be accepted alongside the Simoleon.

One Simoleon shall be equal to One dollar and Sixty Cents.

The appearance of the coins and notes has not been confirmed by the Ministry of Finance, but it has been confirmed the Treasury shall be responsible for the printing of notes and the striking of coins, and that the Imperial Bank of Andersonia shall be responsible for distribution.

Note: The Times would like to point out the conversion between dollars and simoleons as:
Simoleon>Dollar: Simoleon amount x 1.6.
Dollar>Simoleon: Dollar amount ÷ 1.6.