Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

... as defined by Danny Alexander?...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereport...x_immoral.html

Mr Alexander seems to feel that anyone who legally mitigates their tax liability via the rules set out by government is on the same level as those who evade tax by, for example, illegally not declaring income or claiming benefits to which they're not entitled. Is he right?

I wonder what his views on his own actions with respect to Capital Gains Tax liability are:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-on-house.html

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

Not another glass houser.:rolleyes:

You would think they would make sure all their ducks were in a row first..:D

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

Tax avoidance is perfectly legal.

Mr Alexander, I believe, did his own fair share of tax avoidance during the MP expenses carry on.

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

Well if it isn't a hell of a lot of accountants have been breaking the law for a very long time...

---------- Post added at 09:48 ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 ----------

If they applied that logic there'd be nobody left in Westminster to make such announcements.... :D

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

Ahh but all the ducks are in the moat, or was it the club house, I'm not sure...

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

That was Peter Viggers with the Duck house and he was my MP for over 30 years..

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

My accountant uses every legal loophole he can to minimise my tax bill. I feel no guilt over that as I feel I pay too much tax already and get far too little in return.......apart from a warm fuzzy feeling that I'm helping people like this

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

And the important differentiator, as Rammy states, is "legal" - Mr Alexander is out of order, imho, conflating avoidance and evasion; that is like conflating receipt of benefits and fiddling benefits - totally inappropriate.

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

I sense some preaching to the converted going on here. Trying to soothe the souls of those on the left of the Lib Dems concerned about cuts and some tax rises with this rhetoric. Rhetoric is the only word I can think of to describe it too sadly.

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

Until they close the loopholes this is somewhat of an own goal. However as costs go, the non payment of taxes by whatever means actually loses the government far far more than ever the cost of payments to benefit cheats. Yet not paying taxes if you are wealthy is seen as morally superior to a few falsely claiming benefits.

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

Coincidentally, a day or two ago, I heard Simon Hughes being interviewed about these apparent double standards on the part of Danny Alexander and all he could do was to suggest that 'with the benefit of hindsight' his colleague probably wouldn't have done it.... :rolleyes:

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

Thats because tax avoidance is legal (utilising the framework the govt has itself put in place)whereas claiming benifits you aren't entitled to is not :shrug:

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

No. He should ensure the laws are written to stop this sort of thing from being legal.

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

first time I have heard of someone being called a cheat for following the rules...

Re: Are you like a 'benefit cheat'...
 

Laws have a spirit as well as a letter. Hence the phrase 'that's just not cricket'.

The tax system is used in the UK to raise revenue but also to encourage or discourage certain patterns of behaviour. All of that unfortunately means it can be very complex. There are therefore certain ways to avoid tax, legally, that were not intended to exist. It may be legal to take advantage of them, but it IMO it is morally questionable, especially when those who are able to exploit such unintended loopholes tend to be those who can afford to pay an accountant to find them and arrange their affairs accordingly.

In medieval times, the nobility used their power and influence to avoid paying taxes. Things in this regard have not changed as much as they perhaps should have.