Tallinn's Unemployment Tax

The growth of number of new jobless continued in Estonia in November reaching 84,178, or 12.8% of workforce Postimees Online reports. According to Liina Laisk, spokesperson for Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar, this is good news. “This will boost the city’s revenue, thanks to the new unemployment tax Mayor Savisaar has imposed,” she said. “Now every one of those layabouts will now have to pay the city for their time on the dole.”
Responding to accusations cold hearted taxation, Laisk said “Cold hearted? That’s nothing. We’re taxing baby food, babies, mothers, breast milk, and smiles,” she said with a straight face. “This is merely the last in a line of new taxes. Under Mayor Savisaar, Tallinn city’s new policy is ‘if it moves, tax it.’ But we have made an exception for the unemployed. Our tax will reach them right where they lay parked on the couch.”