The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise

Question

The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that were enforced in Lithuania was less strict when compared to the European Union’s members’ in 2000, which imposed tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened in order to harmonize with the EU’s requirements and not to loosen it  for the purpose of remaining competitive with trading partners outside of the EU.

(A) The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that were enforced in Lithuania was less strict when compared to the European Union’s members’ in 2000, which imposed tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened in order to harmonize with the EU’s requirements and not to loosen it

(B) The policy of applying indirect taxes, including value added tax and excise duties, enforced in Lithuania was less strict when compared with the policy applied by the European Union’s members in 2000, imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened so that the country would harmonize with the EU’s requirements rather than loosening them

(C) When it was compared with that enforced by members of the European Union in 2000, the policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that were enforced in Lithuania and that were less strict, were imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened in order to harmonize with the EU’s requirements rather than loosening them

(D) Compared with that enforced by members of the European Union in 2000, the policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that was enforced in Lithuania was less strict, imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened so that the country would harmonize with the EU’s requirements rather than loosened

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think if OA should be D.
'that' has no antecedent.

(E) In 2000, Lithuania, compared with the members of the European Union, had a policy of applying indirect taxes, including value added tax and excise duties, that were enforced less strictly, since it imposed tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed tightening in order that they would harmonize with the EU’s requirements and not to loosen

Prajat · Accepted Answer

Here are a few pointers :

1. In most GMAT SC questions, especially in lengthy questions like this one, we need to focus on the important stuff 
=> Core Grammar (S-V agreement, Modifier errors, Pronouns, Comparisons, Parallelism, Tenses) & Meaning Issues first 
=> Preferences (idioms, concision, better choice of words etc.) later....

2. There is no reason to get thrown off by the use of "that" in choice D. Remember; as long as "that" replaces the other singular item in a comparison, it's totally fine. Here, "Compared with THE POLICY enforced by...THE POLICY enforced in Lithuania..."

3. Options A, C, & E each suffer from Subject-Verb agreement errors => Eliminated.
So the battle is between B & D.
As a previous post correctly points out, the main decision point here will be parallel structures.

4. Let's check out the different things compared in B and D:
"tax rules and tariffs that..."
B) needed to be TIGHTENED...rather than LOOSENING THEM
D) needed to be TIGHTENED...rather than LOOSENED

Choice D is wordy, but correct. 
It makes the parallel comparison here between the two actions applied to the "tax rules and tariffs", whereas (B) fails to do so. Additionally, the pronoun "them" in (B) is totally unnecessary and creates an awkward, redundant construction.

sarthaknav · Answer

Like should not be used to introduce examples - this rule should not be used as a key decision maker
Though such as is preferred over like but in this case you don't have to make any such decision. I have come across several questions and articles, in newspapers, where like has been used to introduce examples.
Though most probably you wont see any question in GMAT where correct answer uses like to introduce examples.

Coming to this question, the main decision maker here is parallel markers:
The policy needed to be  tightend  and  loosened

I guess now the question looks easy.

arhumsid · Answer

The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that were enforced in Lithuania was less strict when compared to the European Union’s members’ in 2000, which imposed tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened in order to harmonize with the EU’s requirements and not to loosen it for the purpose of remaining competitive with trading partners outside of the EU.

(A) The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that were enforced in Lithuania was less strict when compared to the European Union’s members’ in 2000, which imposed tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened in order to harmonize with the EU’s requirements and not to loosen it --> Wrongly uses Like to introduce examples. Should use 'such as' instead.

(B) The policy of applying indirect taxes, including value added tax and excise duties, enforced in Lithuania was less strict when compared with the policy applied by the European Union’s members in 2000, imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened so that the country would harmonize with the EU’s requirements rather than loosening them --> 'When Compared' is wrong idiom

(C) When it was compared with that enforced by members of the European Union in 2000, the policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that were enforced in Lithuania and that were less strict, were imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened in order to harmonize with the EU’s requirements rather than loosening them --> Same as A

(D) Compared with that enforced by members of the European Union in 2000, the policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that was enforced in Lithuania was less strict, imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened so that the country would harmonize with the EU’s requirements rather than loosened --> Same as A

(E) In 2000, Lithuania, compared with the members of the European Union, had a policy of applying indirect taxes, including value added tax and excise duties, that were enforced less strictly, since it imposed tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed tightening in order that they would harmonize with the EU’s requirements and not to loosen ---> In order that is usually wrong. In order to is preferred.

So none of the options is correct !?!

logblogger89 · Answer

(D) Compared with that enforced by members of the European Union in 2000, the policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that was enforced in Lithuania was less strict, imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened so that the country would harmonize with the EU’s requirements rather than loosened

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think if OA should be D.
'that' has no antecedent.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think if OA should be D. 
'that' has no antecedent.

Prajat · Answer

The OA is not coming from me, but from Knewton.
"like" is obviously more casual than "such as".

But I believe in this scenario, the parallelism & agreement errors will trump the miscellaneous usage errors.
I did not create this question, but I would always answer (D) for this one

May be if this was an official GMATPrep question, we would have an option that corrects all the errors
As far as I know, in the GMAT we are not supposed to find the best possible way to write a sentence.  We have to choose the best of the 5 options given to us.

Prajat · Answer

Hi,
I get your point, and I also realize the problem with like/such as
Considering that, all options will be wrong, which will make the question dubious.
However, given this question, which answer would you choose?
(D) is the safest choice as it corrects the parallelism & agreement   related errors in the other options.

chetan2u · Answer

hi Prajat , If i would have to, i would go for B as it corrects two main idioms in regular use in GMAT.. a) compared to vs with.. b) like vs such as.. yes there is a problem of parallelism and usage of 'them'.. But may be no one will have to face this dilemma in actual GMAT...

thangvietname · Answer

ha ha, long sentence take us the tons of time.

just remember "when compared" is mostly wrong when the comparions happen because "when compared" show a time relation, which is not logic if comparison is made. value of comparison is not related to time, to a time during which an action happen

rezaulnsu · Answer

Great analysis. Since every answer choice is guilty, we should find out such one having the least errors. 
A has a number of errors including (1) ,that ..which (2) parallelism problem with 'and' (3) meaning issue (4) antecedent it(whom it refers?) (5) like used to examples
B has some errors too..(1)when compared (2) rather than loosening (3)meaning and antecedent problem with 'them'
C has (1) when it was compared (2)like to introduce examples (3)rather than loosening (4)ambiguity with that..if relative pronoun that refers to policy meaning is fine but policy is singular, so, why were?.on the other hand, if refers to indirect taxes grammar is fine, but does it make sense? (5)were imposing...why continuous to describe a fact?
D has an error too but just one..like
E...(1)that were enforced (2)antecedent problem 'it imposed'(whom it refers to? policy or country) (3) parallelism problem with 'and' (4) meaning issue (5)suspect with ..in order that...but using so that is preferred, though in order that is just ok to say but too formal and wordy too

thangvietname · Answer

hard question

one of most frequent problem appearing on gmat sc questions is that we do not know to which previous phrase the latter or ending phrase in a sentence is paralel. 
if we are prepared to find the paparalel previous phrase, we can win the game more easily. gmat tests this problem again and again because in writing a long sentenece we need to write the ending phrase correctly-we need to understand the ending phrase paralel to which previous phrase.

jjsverbal · Answer

A few things to point out:
1) the issue of like
 - the use of like here is used as comparison. Like tom, I work out: Tom and I both work out. 
2) that were vs that was (What's being enforced here? Is it the policy or the indirect taxes?)
 - The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that  were  enforced in Lithuania was less strict.
 : Here the sentence indicates that the indirect taxes were enforced in Lithuania. 
 - the policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that  was  enforced in Lithuania was less strict
 : It's the vice-vera.

cledgard · Answer

I also believe that "like" in choice D is wrong because it introduces examples, not comparisons.

sleepynut · Answer

Hi,
I have a question with option D,

Compared with that enforced by members of the European Union in 2000, the policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that was enforced in Lithuania was less strict, imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened so that the country would harmonize with the EU’s requirements rather than loosened  for the purpose of remaining competitive with trading partners outside of the EU.

Is it the indirect taxes or the action of applying such taxes that is enforced?
Should it be the taxes themselves getting enforced?As we enforce the law not the action

Please share your thought
Thanks

sleepynut · Answer

Hi,
I have a question with option D,

Compared with that enforced by members of the European Union in 2000, the policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties, that was enforced in Lithuania was less strict, imposing tax rules and tariffs that, for the most part, needed to be tightened so that the country would harmonize with the EU???s requirements rather than loosened for the purpose of remaining competitive with trading partners outside of the EU.

Is it the indirect taxes or the action of applying such taxes that is enforced?
Should it be the taxes themselves getting enforced?As we enforce the law not the action

Please share your thought
Thanks

cledgard · Answer

I believe it is the "policy" what was enforced; it states that in Lithuania was less strict. Neither the application nor the taxes would make sense.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Your query has already been answered by Cledgard. If you still have doubt, please let us know - closing this request.

gvij2017 · Answer

Does your mean by the best one out of 5 choices is that one least wrong answer among choices may be winning asnwer.

Please clear this doubt.

mehtakaustubh · Answer

few cents from me:
Policy is singular so were is incorrect: A,C.E are out.
Value added tax and excise duty are examples of indirect taxes, so like is a better option to be used here(such as would have been the best choice, but in its absence like is the closest option), also when should be used to indicate time: so B is out.
Only left isD
IMO D

bhargavakumartu · Answer

Hi,

If someone can help me out in understanding that in - "The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise duties,"
Why I don't consider that "like" was giving the examples of policy and not taxes. Because it is policy and not policies? Or is there something that to which "like" touches is what it talks about?

Thanks for your cooperation
Tulika Bhargava

The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise

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The policy of applying indirect taxes, like value added tax and excise

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