Witches forced to pay tax

MOGOSOIA, Romania – Angry witches are using cat excrement and dead dogs to cast spells on the president and government who are forcing them to pay taxes.  And President Traian Basescu isn’t laughing it off.
In a country where superstition is mainstream, the president and his aides wear purple on Thursdays, allegedly to ward off evil spirits.
Witches from Romania’s eastern and western regions will descend to the southern plains and the Danube River tomorrow to threaten the government with spells and spirits.
A dozen witches will head to the Danube to put a hex on the government and hurl mandrake into the river “so evil will befall them”, said a witch named Alisia.
“This law is foolish. What is there to tax, when we hardly earn anything?” she said by telephone today. “The lawmakers don’t look at themselves, at how much they make, their tricks; they steal and they come to us asking us to put spells on their enemies.”
The tax on witches went into effect Saturday as part of the government’s drive to crack down on tax evasion in a country that is in recession. Like any self-employed person, they will pay 16 per cent income tax and make contributions to health and pension programmes.(AP)