Following the news yesterday that Jimmy Carr has been using a Jersey based scheme to avoid as much income tax as possible and now this morning's revelations that members of Take That are accused of doing the same, I wonder if we are going to get many more of these? Could be as big as the expenses scandal, no?
Personally I think, and would expect most others to think the same, that avoidance is wrong. I also believe tax is apolitical, because we all have a duty to pay it and no Party can really claim to be acting in the best interests of the public, especially as in recent years major donors to both the Labour and Tory parties have been accused of avoiding tax.
Hopefully these stories will run and run, might ruin a few reputations and bruise a few egos!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9343267/Taxman-to-challenge-loophole-that-shelters-millions-for-Jimmy-Carr.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161925/Take-That-stars-26million-tax-shelters.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Comments
That said I think every government in history could do more to shut obvious loopholes down. I've got several friends that are self employed contractors that do the same kind of job as me, get paid more and that claim back all kinds of spurious things against their tax (cars, flat screens, taxi rides) and pay less NI, which is a bit of a nonsense.
I agree in a wider context it is easy to turn these things into a 'jealousy exercise' but it is also utterly rational to criticise someone who finds a way of paying income tax equal to less than 1% of his earnings when the man in the street is paying considerably more.
Mind you, he was probably getting his tax advice from the Windsor's, they've never been keen on paying their share either.
Sign of the times that we have a Tory Chancellor pursuing these people - the Tories would never normally pursue these matters.
Great reporting from The Times, I wonder why they are going after celebrities........
I suspect some-one like Rooney will have his image rights paid off-shore.
More effort needs to be made to address these loopholes but you cant blame people for using them.
"as possible"....that's the key. He and others like him will still pay tax subject to resident and domicile rules and probably more in a year than I'll pay in ten.
Yes he is minimising his tax but then so does anyone when they claim expenses, get tax credits etc.
Someone like Jimmy Carr will generate millions in revenue for example when he puts on a tour....think how many people involved in that are employed, paid wages and then pay tax on those wages, catering companies and venues who in turn then pay tax into HMRC's coffers.
If he didnt do a tour you wouldnt have that.
Im wary of the outrage around tax avoidance as it discourages people to go out and do well for themselves and generate wealth for others.
Whenever I have heard the likes of UK Uncut demonstrate their gripes they seem to fail a basic grasp of economics in that if you tax people to the hilt you will discincentivise them from operating at all and a lot of their views seem to drive towards a non capitalist society.
Im not a uber capitalist but at the same time I dont want to live in a socialist collective where we trade lentil soup and hair braiding services to get us through the winter.
Hand on heart here who honestly would pay money to the government if they won £100m on the Euros this weekend?
I certainly wouldnt. I would give some to charity and perhaps do something philanthropic and then look after my family and friends but I would not feel the slightest bit guilty not paying Cameron and Co or whatever incompetents were pulling the pursestrings to squander it on wars, quangos or whatever the flavour of the day is.
I met a government minister from a developing country last year who had had the pleasure of meeting Bono on one of his "visits" where he lectures government officials on how they should be solving their problems.
The minister I spoke to said that although he was grateful for the money raised that he and his colleagues did not appreciate being spoken to like a bunch of idiots by a pop singer!
Yes he is minimising his tax but then so does anyone when they claim expenses, get tax credits etc.
Someone like Jimmy Carr will generate millions in revenue for example when he puts on a tour....think how many people involved in that are employed, paid wages and then pay tax on those wages, catering companies and venues who in turn then pay tax into HMRC's coffers.
If he didnt do a tour you wouldnt have that.
Im wary of the outrage around tax avoidance as it discourages people to go out and do well for themselves and generate wealth for others.
Whenever I have heard the likes of UK Uncut demonstrate their gripes they seem to fail a basic grasp of economics in that if you tax people to the hilt you will discincentivise them from operating at all and a lot of their views seem to drive towards a non capitalist society.
Im not a uber capitalist but at the same time I dont want to live in a socialist collective where we trade lentil soup and hair braiding services to get us through the winter.
That's not what I'm advocating either. For instance I don't agree with the top rate of income tax; I don't pay it, but I disagree with it purely for the reasons you suggest. If anything it encourages individuals within that bracket to actively search for loopholes.
The tax system we have is far from perfect, it not only has a number of bolt-holes and schemes but it also has systems that impinge a broad range of people from private individuals to small businesses.
I've never really bought the idea that individuals with vast wealth or large companies bring direct benefits to the UK. Yes the argument is clearly there for indirect benefits, but everyone should pay income tax if their business or income is derived inside the UK, and whether he or she is a major employer or not is irrelevant.
Equally I would scrap tax for everyone earning below a certain threshold as this would hopefully give people incentives to work as it would be worthwhile. Can sympathise with some people that dont work because when you factor in child care and travel costs it's not worth getting out of bed as the net difference theyd earn between working and not working is minmal.
It's not working the way it is at the moment and the bitterness it creates from all elements of the specrtum is corrosive.
Cameron was shitting his pants about lowering the top-rate from 50% to 45% because of the image it would create, there's no way known he will risk a flat-tax - even though many on the right of his party would love him to do it.
But then for celebrities to attack bankers etc is hypocritical , i guess it makes them filled justified about cheating the system , by having a go at others who are?
I listened to the way The Times described the tax loophole exploited by TT and it is an absolute piss-take, its hard to believe that somebody decided that could actually be legal.
There will be no income tax on earnings up to £9,205, the Chancellor announced in his budget statement to the House of Commons earlier today.
Increasing the personal allowance takes 2 million of the lowest paid people in the country out of income taxation. George Osborne went on to claim that those earning less than £100,000 a year would be £170 better off on average.
I agree it's not fair no... but for example my missus is a secretary she works 9-5 and doesnt worry about her work outside of those hours. Her boss is a partner in the firm who studied law for years and works til midnight most night and weekends. She has the responsibility and burden to ensure her firm earns enough to employ my missus and hundreds like her. My missus doesnt have that pressure.
The £5k the secretary pays in tax will possibly be harder- hitting than the £20k the boss would pay but then that is perhaps the trade- off for having a job without the responsibilities, stress and hours the boss endures.
It's not fair and the system should be overhauled but you still need to keep a level of incentive to encourage people to be high earning bosses who generate jobs and wealth for others otherwise it would almost be more attractive to have a relatively stress free career as a secretary (for example) with more free time and less worry.
There's nothing stopping my missus from training to be a lawyer and nothing stopping the a lot of folk in general becoming entrepreneurs other than lack of ambition and drive OR choice that they would prefer an alternative lifestyle.
Don't we all avoid paying as much as we can, it's just that I'm not a multimillionaire so there isn't that much to avoid.
If these celebrities are working within the rules and you font like it surely your issue is with the rules and not the individual ?
My problem is not with avoidance per se, we all want to do the best we can for our families, but the hypocrisy of so many of these "right on" celebrities who love to lecture the ordinary "working scum" as to how they should live and to whom they should give money whilst feathering their own nests.
It gets my goat however, when I get a snotty letter from HMRC telling me my tax/ni was a week late, when people like Portsmouth FC can hang on to their employers tax and ni running into millions for months at time.
They are the people who should be targetted. (Yes, I know they were).
Limit everyone to one child and stop foreign travel.
That will sort it out.
He is not opposed to paying if they can show why he actually owes it but they are just playing bully boy, its hard to escape the conclusion that they love to pick the easy hanging fruit.