It’s time for the government to realise that people really don’t like tax avoidance

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As the FT reports this morning:

George Osborne's “shares for workers' rights” initiative could end up costing Britain £1bn a year in lost revenues, the Office for Budget Responsibility has warned, at the same time as the government battles to clamp down on tax avoidance schemes.

The long-term potential cost of the chancellor's policy, buried in an annex to the Autumn Statement's costing documents, is likely to fuel controversy over the employment initiative that got the go-ahead last week in spite of a poor welcome from business.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the independent think-tank, attacks the government in Tuesday's Financial Times for condemning tax avoidance as it “prepares to put another billion pound lollipop on the table”.

 Good for the IFS on this occasion. And good for the TUC, who have been saying this since the scheme was announced.
Now it is time for the government to realise that people really do not like shoddy tax avoidance arrangements, too easily available for abuse when what is really required are proper tax collection arrangements to ensure that the right people pay the right tax at the right time.
Is it really too much to ask that they get their heads round this simple idea?

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