More tax revelations
 

Once again we find loads of people/companies (including some of the lefty leaning but capitalist loving great and the good) have been avoiding as much tax as they can and in some cases in spite of what they preach to others or being the world's richest company...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41889787

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41886608

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41878305

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-41880153

https://www.theguardian.com/news/201...aradise-papers

I note the Guardian makes plenty of comment whilst having their own questions to answer about the tax they pay and how their company is set up with regard to tax liability.

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/0...-arrangements/

The amount of vitriol the targets are subjected to doesn't, however, always seem to correlate to the sums avoided but more how popular they are. Double standards clearly but what's new though eh?... :shrug:

Re: More tax revelations
 

The Queen ? Lefty leaning ? How very dare you ! (although I did have my suspicions ;) )

Re: More tax revelations
 

lol. Prince Philip's always been on-message but I've had my concerns about Prince Charles despite his love of countryside sports.
Saw something about a Russian with shares in two Premier League clubs yesterday and one of Trump's crooked guys making bucks from sanctioned Russians so really must catch up on today's developments!

Re: More tax revelations
 

Seems mostly like Jealousy, there is no indication that these people are breaking any laws.

Pretty much anyone would avoid taxes if they could.

Re: More tax revelations
 

Surely it's sensible self-interest not jealousy? The more taxes the rich and multinationals pay, the more money spent on the NHS or alternatively, the less tax you and I have to pay?

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Don't be fooled by this not breaking any laws guff, 80% of aggressive tax avoidance schemes are found not to be legal in court and yet we swallow it, we allow people to get away with comparing stuff like this to having an isa or shopping in duty free.

Re: More tax revelations
 

In which case, the Government should change the law.

It's all very well people trying to rubbish the rich for what they are doing, but if it is legal, I think people should shut up about it.

If they want to protest, they should protest to the Government about our lax tax laws.

Re: More tax revelations
 

As we know, avoidance is legal and evasion isn't. It's up to governments to determine where the lines are to be drawn between and then enforce them. The problem is that the tax system is so complicated that it's very hard to do effectively, especially when many other countries are quite happy to be havens of one sort or another.

What sticks in the throat however is the double standards and hypocrisy evident both on the part of some of the companies and individuals involved in minimising their own tax whilst preaching morals to the rest of us but also the manner in which some are harshly targeted by the media and general public whereas others are not. It's easy to make a gesture to boycott a coffee shop chain in order to pressure them to change their policy but not so easy to boycott the maker/supplier of products and services you love and rely on like Apple's for example.

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What sticks in my throat is the double standards of those corrupt and in power when it comes to tax evasion and benefit cheats. One rule for the riff raff, one rule for us and our accountants.

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Well l have no sympathy for benefit cheats as they should have the book thrown at them but in comparison to tax evasion that is a much bigger problem IMO and yet it continues to go on unabated.

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no one with an ounce of sense would pay a single penny more than they have to in tax as long as it's legal to do so .

Re: More tax revelations
 

If you believe that then you really are more gullible than I thought.

If laws are being broken, then they should be held accountable.
If laws are not being broken then people need to stop whinging about it.

We already seem to have plenty of witch hunts on the go.

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If only I had enough income to do so..:D

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I don't know about that, Den. There seems to be a lot of confusion between tax evasion and tax avoidance.

If the law is too complicated to enforce, the solution seems to be straight forward to me. Simplify it, dear Henry, dear Henry.... :idea:

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Re: More tax revelations
 

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/at...4&d=1510237051

Attachment 27124

Re: More tax revelations
 

No confusion by me OB as surely it can't be that hard for the so called clever boffins to work out a clear and concise tax system where everybody pays their fair lot.

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That's only part of the problem. How do you prevent people who decide they pay enough tax from simply taking their skills or businesses elsewhere where they'll pay less in which case UK PLC will get nothing from them? That's exactly what happens when one country adopts a higher taxation approach. Right now many of the rich do just that - they up sticks and leave taking their tax and spending with them. The UK cannot on its own come up with a solution to this, the best we can do is simplify the tax system to reduce the incentive and scope for evasion and set the rates payable at levels which aren't too onerous.

Re: More tax revelations
 

It's hard to simplify it though because many of the exemptions exist for valid reasons. You only want to tax profit for example but then everything becomes a business expense and companies seem to never be in profit because of the cost of licensing their brand from themselves in another jurisdiction. As TheDaddy has pointed out before many of these schemes are later found illegal but because of the ambiguity over what is legitimate or illegitimate use of these schemes in any individual case it has to be proven in court.

Re: More tax revelations
 

It seems some folks, including the great and the good, not only like doing what they can to avoid tax in the UK, they don't like paying it in the places they choose to set up homes either. How very generous they are. I mean it must be so tough being a pious multi-millionaire that wriggling out of as much tax as you can is a necessity to keep your head above the water in that vast infinity pool... :rolleyes:

https://www.theguardian.com/news/201...-barbados-home

I'm sure they must feel all warm inside about how little they manage to pay towards the services the ordinary communities they choose to honour with their presence rely upon eh. 'All tax due has been paid' seems to be an increasingly common response to any awkward questions but, even when that's totally true, avoidance schemes are set up for the very purpose of minimising or removing the amount of tax due so I reckon that just amounts to weasel words of the first order. Such generosity of spirit amongst some of our high profile and even uber rich, figures is heartwarming really... :rolleyes:

It's pie in the sky to believe that there'll be a global agreement on taxation any time soon - the rich and powerful will use their money and alliances to prevent that from happening. What's more likely to have an effect though is a permanent change in public mood to bring pressure on these people to turn away from their complicated avoidance schemes and pay their dues. Let's face it none of them are going to be left short of a few million quid are they, even if they pay every penny of tax due without reliance on any tax avoidance whatsoever, even their ISA allowances. Those who're claiming 'ignorance' of their own affairs can't be allowed to carry on doing so I'm afraid. If you know enough to hire an expensive tax advisor to save you money you're bright enough to ask how it all works and make a decision as to the morality of doing so rather than just the legality of avoiding tax.

Re: More tax revelations
 

As TheDaddy said, laws are only broken when the latest scheme is proved in court to be unlawful. With information not being in the public domain and no need for companies to reveal accounts or ownership then you can't tell if tax avoidance is going on. The best thing is leaks like these and the Panama Papers which will help dissuade others from doing similar things.