How to calculate tax with a variable input and if else

[bowlofred]

I suspect that while python has explicit precedence rules and parenthesis to change them, English does not. In particular:

the tax was equal to 18% of the income minus 556 thalers and 2 cents

can be parsed in two ways. I think the way you have interpreted it is different than what they intended.

Also, I don't see anything in your code that enforces this part of the tax code:

If the calculated tax is less than zero, it only means no tax at all (the tax is equal to zero).