While the schemes are legal, critics argue tax avoidance is immoral and deprives the public purse of hundreds of millions of pounds that could fund vital services.
Tax avoidance isn’t a thing, it’s an attempt. A Schroedinger’s Position. You can try to avoid tax, sure. Don’t buy cigarettes, do have a pension. On examination avoidance then collapses down to either tax evasion – the illegal – or tax complaince – the legal. Avpoidance as a state doesn’t exist, it’s that uncertainty before examination.
You could more correctly call it ‘ Tax Minimisation’.
The Graun lecturing about how evil off shore tax avoidance is? Who says Lefties don’t have a sensayuma?
FFS – that word ‘loophole’ again.
A loophole used to mean an unintended use or consequence of legislation.
Now it means legislation acting exactly as intended but people not liking the outcome.
“tax avoidance is immoral”
“Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.”
Judge Learned Hand (a wise American Judge)- Commissioner v. Newman, 159 F2d 848 (1947) –
“No man in the country is under the smallest obligation, moral or other, so to arrange his legal relations to his business or property as to enable the Inland Revenue to put the largest possible shovel in his stores.
The Inland Revenue is not slow, and quite rightly, to take every advantage which is open to it under the Taxing Statutes for the purposes of depleting the taxpayer’s pocket. And the taxpayer is in like manner entitled to be astute to prevent, so far as he honestly can, the depletion of his means by the Inland Revenue.”
Lord Clyde, President of the Court of Session (a wise British Judge) Ayrshire Pullman Motor Services & D M Ritchie v The Commissioners of Inland Revenue 14 TC 754. (1929)
Do they mean that you spend the cash on vital services for you instead of vital services for them??
Paying tax is immoral.
If you pay taxes, Labour will just waste that money on the beshittification of your country.
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, i.e. Caesar can piss up a rope because he didn’t earn any of my money.
Is it not the case that low tax countries are more prosperous than high tax countries? If that is indeed the case, then avoiding tax is a moral duty.
As for the money being spent on essential services, well if that is all it was spent on we would have a low tax country too.
Timmy: Tax avoidance is, by definition, tax compliance.
I avoid excess tax by not making voluntary donations on the HMRC web site. Is it immoral to do that and thus deprive the public purse of money that it could piss up the wall as usual?
A long time ago when I took up golf a teaching pro told me that I should learn the rules of golf because more often than not I will be able to use them to my advantage and I was right.
Tax law is more complex but the principle is the same, which is why I always used an accountant once I moved from employment to self employment and business ownership.