User Comments - sancraw

Posted on: Discussing Divorce

谢谢！差不多就明白了。 :)

Posted on: Discussing Divorce

I just wanted to clarify the meaning of "彼此" in the dialogue -

I understand that usually this means 'each other', but in the context of the dialogue (where only the husband had done anything wrong, and therefore needed 'another chance') it seemed to mean "us"/"our relationship".

So would this be a second usage of '彼此' or have I misunderstood something?

My two cents on the music - from a dramatic and emotive perspective it was effective (particularly for the '我不同意!'), but it was kind of annoying having to listen through such a long intro each time I played the dialogue. If it was shorter it probably would have been better. For what it's worth.

Posted on: Taxable Salary

You're right, he does go to the 税务局.

This is how it works - as I understand it. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Connie.)

In China (or at least the bits of it I've been in!) companies pay tax on their expenditure UNLESS they can present a 发票.

It's in your interests to do this, because the tax on expenditure is lower than the tax on profit.

However, you can't always get a 发票 for all your expenses - some suppliers don't have them or aren't willing to provide them.

It is possible, however, to buy receipts direct from the government. When you buy the receipts you are paying the tax for the amounts those receipts represent.

Individuals with their rental contracts may be a little different to this, but I think this guy goes with his landlord to the 税务局, buys the 发票 - in the process, paying the tax on that expenditure as he does so. But the cost of the tax on 6000RMB of rent is much lower than that on 6000RMB of personal income, so he comes out in front. It also increases his employers' tax receipted expenditure without them having to pay for it, so they benefit too.

Posted on: Taxable Salary

The thing that was/is confusing me isn't the semantics, but the process that's being described.

Let me check if I understood this right - the employee presents the receipts to the company, the company reimburses the amount on the receipts to the employee (reducing their salary accordingly), then presents the receipts to the government as a company expense which reduces the company's tax liability. Company & employee both benefit.

If so, I now fully understand the dialogue. I had been thinking along the lines of the Australian tax system where individuals present their receipts to reduce their tax bill directly to the government - in which case 'reimbursement' wouldn't make sense. Thinking along these lines had me a bit confused about the role of the company in what I thought should have been an individual-government transaction, but I think I get it now.

Posted on: Taxable Salary

Maybe I got this wrong, but my understanding of the dialogue is that there's no 'reimbursement' here.

The receipts for the rental expenses are a _deduction_ from taxable income, and the employer then reports the employees adjusted taxable income to the 税务局. The employee doesn't get the rental expense reimbursed, just the part of his income he spends on it (or more to the point, the amount represented by the receipts he presents) doesn't get taxed.

Could someone please clarify this?

Posted on: The Rising Cost of Food

Yeah, hats off to whoever came up with that one. Love your work. :)

Posted on: Hanukkah

Thanks for that.

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility

thanks for that - I've never heard of/noticed 未必 - will give it a go.

one more question - how well does 有点不可能 work for 'not very likely'?

attempt to summarise from highest to lowest degree of certainty:

非常可能

很可能

有可能

可能 (也许?)

有点不可能

不太可能 (未必)

不可能

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility

is there a standard way to say 'unlikely'?

I usually default to '不太可能' - is there a better way to say it?

Posted on: Hanukkah

I just want to clarify the meaning of 保佑 - is this a word that can only be used in relation to a deity and/or non-earthly relationship (eg the deceased mother in one of the examples)?

Could it be used in relation to a monarch and their people? (Living) parents and children?