| Hi Caitlin,
(gotcha back)
As a farmer I'm not opposed to the export tax as an idea because I think it is effective in establishing a label of quality.
What I do have a huge problem with is that it is a blanket tax on everything, it is sorely outdated and it funds a bunch of political BS that I should have the freedom to not have anything to do with.
Only 35% of our tax goes to promoting our pearls which is aggravating considering that it was originally implemented for that.
As I have said in other posts, tax on keishi per gram is a complete scandal as keishi is nothing but pearl and it often sells for amounts that make it silly to export when the tax has been paid.
Also, should there not be a little flexibility when measuring the thickness of larger pearls?
Imagine yourself as a farmer: You have just produced an 18mm round, A grade pearl, with an insane peacock color and a mirror luster that you can see yourself in. You have a designer interested in it for $10,000.00. It's lower than you want to sell it but she's really nice so you take it to get it x-rayed for a legal exportation. Unfortunately it has .7mm and not .8mm of nacre on the nucleus so it's confiscated to later get ground into pearly dust. |