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Monthly Archives: February 2008

RSS and email feeds

29-Feb-08

I have been told by a number of people that they are having problems with my RSS and email feeds
I apologise. This originates in an old Feedburner problem which meant that this blog ended up with two feed addresses. The old one began to malfunction in late January and seemed to die on February 1st. […]

This offer must end soon

29-Feb-08

Having said that there is just one article you need to read today, let me add another. It’s a Guardian blog called This special offer must end soon and it’s by, well, me.
What I’ve done is contextualise the harm that Tescos’ tax deal causes.
Let’s not understate that harm: it is substantial.
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Tescos threatenening to sue?

29-Feb-08

Polly Toynbee’s article in today’s Guardian lets another Tescos tax story out of the bag:

Since Tesco has murmured to other newspapers that it may sue the Guardian, to warn others against following our story - though no writ has arrived - let’s stress that these low-tax paying habits are all very, very legal, all arranged […]

Tax avoidance shames Britain

29-Feb-08

If you read just one thing today make it Polly Toynbee’s article in today’s Guardian entitled Fairness is forgotten in a culture of tax avoidance that shames Britain.
I won’t quote much here - it deserves to be read in full. Suffice with this:

We boast with great arrogance of the pre-eminence of our world-beating City of […]

My del.icio.us bookmarks for February 28th

29-Feb-08

These are my links for February 28th:

MPs call for inquiry into Tesco’s tax avoidance | Business | The Guardian - Can Vince Cable do a thing wrong right now? He’s spot on here.
Leader: Avoiding responsibility | Comment is free | The Guardian - Pay your taxes !

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My del.icio.us bookmarks for February 27th

28-Feb-08

These are my links for February 27th:

Tax havens are getting more popular, more dangerous - and more useful - International Herald Tribune - The OECD says it does not want to put tax havens out of business. Nor do I. But I do want to end the secrecy they provide. That will, as it happens, […]

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity says tax fraud is all Germany’s fault

27-Feb-08

Guess what? The Center for Freedom and Prosperity (the ‘tax cheats lobby’ according to David Cay Johnston in ‘Perfectly Legal’) has come out and said of Liechtenstein tax fraud:

Blame German Tax Law, Not Liechtenstein Privacy Law

Staggering.
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How people get money into Liechtenstein

27-Feb-08

Forbes has a good article on this today. I admit I recognise quite a lot of what is said. What is interesting is that Forbes says:

What of the full-trained accountants, lawyers and bankers who live and work in these havens and allow such funds to be passed through? In many cases they simply don’t ask […]

Tescos: why did they fight so hard to stop their tax story being told?

27-Feb-08

The Guardian has published some good old fashioned investigative reporting on Tescos today. As it says:

Tesco has created an elaborate corporate structure involving offshore tax havens which enables it to avoid paying what could be up to £1bn of tax on profits from the sale of its UK properties.
The complex new structures uncovered by a […]

Accountancy Age and Taxation agree: the non-doms won’t walk away

27-Feb-08

It’s rare you read a blog that is as good as Alex Hawkes’ on the non-doms from which I was distracted by Liechtenstein:

It’s getting to the stage where I’m so fed up of non-dom whinging, I might leave the country myself.
Mike Truman has, as ever, an excellent piece on the subject in Taxation this week. […]

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