Who is the worst Tax shirker?

[Wildcat]

The point is that the person described is, by your definition, a tax shirker. They aren't paying as much tax as they would if they didn't use that government scheme.

 

You should be condeming the discount bike buyer too, if you want to be consistent.

 

No I shouldn't he is not exploiting a tax loophole to avoid paying tax. He is taking advantage of scheme to get himself a bike.

[Wildcat]

Everyone would avoid paying taxes given half a chance.

 

I don't know that they would.

[Bulgarian]

I don't know that they would.

 

I think they would, especially if it were a legal way of avoiding it.

[Geezer Innit]

No I shouldn't he is not exploiting a tax loophole to avoid paying tax. He is taking advantage of scheme to get himself a bike.

 

Just as HMV are using the Low Value Consignment Relief scheme to send their CDs from Jersey VAT free. It's not a loophole - it's exactly what the legislation was set up to enable.

 

If HMV are tax shirkers for using a government scheme as it was intended to be used, why aren't tax-free bike buyers?

[Glamrocker]

I wonder how much per annum the Pakistani community avoids paying by smuggling cash out of the country

[mossdog]

I think they would, especially if it were a legal way of avoiding it.

Naw!..................can't believe Wildcat would! he,s a left wing socialist,they just don,t do that!

[Wildcat]

I think they would, especially if it were a legal way of avoiding it.

 

That doesn't make it right though on an individual level and it certainly doesn't make it right on an international level when you look at the costs.

 

This from ChristianAid's calculations:

 

It has been called the ‘ugliest chapter in global economic affairs since slavery’.1 And, as with slavery before abolition, it is so widely accepted that for years it has excited little or no comment.

 

At first glance, the practice may appear merely a matter for accountants and corporate lawyers. For it concerns the manner in which businesses, in particular multinational corporations, shift billions of pounds of profits between jurisdictions to reduce, or even dodge completely, their tax bill. With multinationals, a system called transfer pricing covers the sale between subsidiaries of the same parent company of everything from nuclear reactors to cornflakes. Also included are intangibles for which a price is levied, such as intellectual property rights, management services and insurance.

 

As long as the subsidiaries of the same multinational charge each other a fair market price – known in regulatory circles as an ‘arm’s length’ price – such transactions are perfectly legitimate.

 

However, with 60 per cent of world trade now taking place within, rather than between, multinational corporations,2 the way fees are determined has become increasingly opaque as arm’s length pricing is forgotten and the figures are manipulated to reduce tax.

 

What makes this a matter of concern for all of us is the impact such tax dodging has on the global economy. Poor countries in particular are deprived of badly needed tax revenues – Christian Aid has estimated to the tune of US$160bn a year.3

 

If that money was available to allocate according to current spending patterns, the amount going into health services could save the lives of 350,000 children under the age of five every year.4

 

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/Images/false-profits.pdf

[Geezer Innit]

I don't know that they would.

 

Virtually all of us are tax avoiders in one way or another.

 

Ever used an ISA? You're a tax avoider.

Ever bought a buy-one-get-one-free offer? You're a tax avoider.

Ever bought a CD or DVD from the internet because it was cheaper? You're a tax avoider.

Ever paid a tradesman cash-in-hand? You're a tax avoider.

Ever bought anything in advance, before the VAT went up? You're a tax avoider.

[pb1977]

No I shouldn't he is not exploiting a tax loophole to avoid paying tax. He is taking advantage of scheme to get himself a bike.

 

Yes but that scheme also lets him pay less tax on his earnings.

 

But there is a little tax loophole as the money deducted to pay for the bike it taken by payroll at source so you end up reducing your tax bill in his case it will be several hundred pounds over the next 12 months.

 

Not huge in the grand scale of things but it still there.

[Uptowngirl]

Just a quick question to all on this thread.

 

Have you or any member of your family ever.

 

1 Contributed to a pension scheme.

2 Bought an ISA or any other type of tax free investment.

3 Gone out and bought goods before a VAT increase was implemented.

4 Imported goods from Europe that were cheaper than in the UK.

5 Bought cigs, alcohol petrol or deisel between a budget and implementation of an increase in duty.

 

 

Because if you answer yes to any of the above you are guilty of tax avoidance.

 

If you have ever bought anything "cash in hand" you are guilty of tax evasion.