My child must study accounting.

SGGP 12/06/2023 08:15

Regardless of whether your child wants to attend a prestigious school or not, in Belgium, teenagers approaching adulthood are required to learn basic accounting in their final years of high school. Just talking about paying taxes and filing tax returns is a headache. Why force children to learn accounting and value-added tax so early?

The reason is simple. Quite a few Vietnamese people here choose accounting as their major for further training or apprenticeship because it's one of the easiest professions to find employment in (and there's a shortage of workers) in Belgium. A friend of mine, who used to be a writer like me, switched to studying accounting and found a job right away in Brussels.

When asked, she said, "Just keep learning, and you'll understand the beauty of finding balance in life." According to statistics from taxfoundation.org, Belgium levies a personal income tax rate of 53.5%, which is still not among the top three countries with the highest income tax rates among OECD member states in Europe, which are Denmark (55.9%), France (55.4%), and Austria (55%). Workers who file tax returns and accept paying such high taxes for many years clearly need to know where that tax money is going.

My daughter, who had just graduated from high school, had a basic introductory accounting textbook at home, so I took it to the center to register for a course. After the course, I understood more about the "cries of frustration" from my fellow restaurant and supermarket owners when tax season arrived, facing penalties for late tax payments and losing thousands of euros in tax refunds due to subjective reasons. The course also showed me how sharply the social landscape of my community is reflected in taxes and tax revenue.

With the headline: "We pay 242 billion EUR in taxes to the federal government. Where does that money go?", the news broadcast on Belgium's VRT radio station immediately received 26,000 views and over 100 very detailed comments. Specifically, of this 242 billion EUR, the government only spends 4 billion (1.7%) on defense, 0.9 billion (0.04%) on immigration, and 2.5 billion (1.03%) on legislation. These three items are noteworthy and account for the majority of tax spending: pensions (59.9 billion - equivalent to 25%), healthcare (43.3 billion - 17.8%), and education (31.6 billion - 13%). A segment of Vietnamese-born salaried workers here also discussed this news. "The fact that most tax revenue goes to pensions proves that the aging population is increasing; no wonder the French government is determined to raise the retirement age." My friend, a nurse, said optimistically, "Looking at these numbers, I feel reassured about the healthcare and pension conditions in Belgium when I get old."

As for me, sitting in class flipping through my high school introductory accounting textbook, struggling to create a balance sheet, I gradually grasped the interesting point my fellow countrywoman, an accountant in Brussels, had mentioned earlier. It makes sense that a child should learn to assess their level of autonomy and anticipate risks early on, even before leaving high school. Life is like a balance sheet, encompassing both tangible and intangible values. We must identify what is important to prioritize our time and effort, eliminating wasteful and pointless activities, in order to find the true value of balance.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/con-phai-hoc-ke-toan-post693312.html