A very large tax paid ㅡa past participle indicating the future??

Question

Over 130 licenses have already been awarded to operators worldwide (as of December 2004), specifying http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W-CDMA radio access technology that builds on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System_for_Mobile_Communications. In Europe, the license process occurred at the tail end of the technology bubble, and the auction mechanisms for allocation set up in some countries resulted in some extremely high prices being paid for the original 2100 MHz licenses, notably in the UK and Germany. In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany, bidders paid a total €50.8 billion for six licenses, two of which were subsequently abandoned and written off by their purchasers (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mobilcom&action=edit&redlink=1 and thehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonera/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telefonica consortium). It has been suggested that these huge license fees have the character of a very large tax paid on future income expected many years down the road. In any event, the high prices paid put some European telecom operators close to bankruptcy (most notably http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KPN).

1) I'd like to know whether in "a very large tax paid" the past participle phrase "paid" indicates the future."
2) And I'd like to know whether "for" is omitted before "expected many years."

Thank you in advance for your help.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

park sang joon1) I'd like to know whether in "a very large tax paid" the past participle phrase "paid" indicates the future."

No. The tax is paid first; the income comes later.

park sang joon2) And I'd like to know whether "for" is omitted before "expected many years."

No. If anything, it's "which is" that is omitted. The income is expected many years in the future.

CJ

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr.Jim, for your very valuable answer.

But I fully didn't understand the points.
So, I'd like to know whether I can't use "to be paid" in lieu of "paid."
And I'd like to know whether "many years" implies "for many years."

CalifJim · Answer

park sang joonSo, I'd like to know whether I can't use "to be paid" in lieu of "paid."

You can, but it won't sound exactly right because the article is mostly in the past tense, meaning that these companies have already paid the taxes. "to be paid" sounds like it applies only to future payments.

park sang joonAnd I'd like to know whether "many years" implies "for many years."

No. "for many years" designates a period of time without specifying whether those years are in the past, the present, or the future. If something started in 1750 and stopped in 1905, it happened for many years. If it starts in 2095 and stops in 2172, it will happen for many years. "for many years" answers the question "How long?" or "For how long?"

"expected many years from now" means that we expect it to happen at a time far into the future. Here, "many years (from now) answers the question, "When?" In the text you're reading, "down the road" substitutes as an idiomatic expression for "from now".

Income that we expect to receive many years down the road is income that we think we will receive many years in the future, maybe in 2020, 2028, or 2050. This says nothing about "for how long" we will continue to receive this income.

CJ

A very large tax paid ㅡa past participle indicating the future??

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