William Hague and the Sunday Telegraph

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I was, if I'm honest a little surprised to find a Tory newspaper asking me about the tax affairs of a former leader of the Tory party this weekend, but that's what happened.

I'm aware that I was not the first accountant the Sunday Telegraph asked for comment upon the tax affairs of the William Hague. But they could not obtain a comment that suggested that whilst what he is doing is quite legal, and even normal (even I would call it tax compliant at this moment in UK law) it is exploiting a perverse situation where those who do not need to live off their incomes can shelter the unused part in a limited company and so delay at least part of their tax bill on it almost indefinitely. That's not just. And it does contribute to the regressive tax system we have in the UK.

So why is it that those who were asked to comment on this in the Big 4 were quite unable to see this? What's wrong with the education of tax accountants when they're quite unable to think beyond the rules? That's what worries me as much if not more than Hague's tax deferral.


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