Once upon a time there was a group of elders who were considering a very difficult issue. It was one which was crucial to the village and needed to be solved, but as yet had confounded them. In fact, embarrassingly, their debates had come to blows which was undignified for such important people. They just had to solve the problem! Then, they decided on a solution.
Everyone had been working on the issue since they had graduated from school, but perhaps the answer was to ask someone who had never been exposed to the question. So they sought out someone who had never heard of the conundrum they were facing. Because of the question's notoriety, only a little girl of six years old was unaware of what the elders had been struggling with.
The girl entered a room and as she did she could see the elders standing around a table. They parted, and on the table stood a glass of water. One of the elders took her hand and said, "little girl, we need your innocent advice. Is this glass of water half full, or half empty?"
She thought for awhile then looked at the man and said, "I think the glass is too big!"
They all knew she had the answer and rejoiced.
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Latest questions on 
I heard that the accountant says "The glass is twice as big as it needs to be"
And the consultant writes a report suggesting that the elders focus less on the qualities of the container and more on the contents. They should test the contents and satisfy themselves that it truly is 'water'. Often when the conundrum arises the contents are wine, beer or something stronger. In such cases the consultant would recommend just drinking it!
Mark Lee
Tax Advice Network