The Observer has the following to say about UK Uncut:
Keep up the good work. Your non-violent protests outside high-street chains have shoved tax avoidance on to the political agenda. Sir Philip Green is under pressure to explain why Topshop is registered in the name of his wife, Cristina, who is a tax resident in Monte Carlo. Boots is struggling to justify its domicile in an obscure canton of Switzerland. UK Uncut's adoption of David Cameron-style language is a masterstroke — the group's members call themselves "Big Society Revenue & Customs". The business world is facing a long overdue question — aren't elaborate tax-avoidance gymnastics just as morally repugnant as tax evasion?
They won't be alone in thinking that in the coming year.
And business is not going to like it.
The answer is, of course, that business will have to embrace country by country reporting. Then they will be accountable for their tax. And what is the problem with that?
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Here’s another take on UKuncut and the 8 fallacies that undermine the UKuncut tax protests.
http://taxadvicenetwork.blogspot.com/2010/12/8-fallacies-that-undermine-ukuncut-tax.html
Elaborate tax-avoidance gymnastics shouldn’t be possible: government needs to ensure that legislation is written properly to avoid loopholes and as simply as possible in order to remove the incentives and possibility of complicated avoidance schemes.
@Mark Lee
I am no admirer of Gordon Brown but I do not believe the tax code became more complicated under his auspices. In fact the opposite is true – taxation became more logical under him. Take the changes the ConDems have proposed: A two tier capital gains tax rate 18% and 28%. How is that simpler? Class 4 National Insurance at 8.5%. Not really a simplification is it?
My experience is that the Tories generally create a very messy and illogical tax regime, presumably because they are constantly amending the laws to favour their friends who donate party funds.
What Gordon Brown and co did do whas to enact the Money Laundering legislation which deems tax evasion as money laundering and which has to be reported in the first instance to the Serious Organised Crime Agency on the basis of suspicion alone.
@Chris
Yes Chris, but with MPs “flipping” their second homes to gain advantage one may be forgiven for believing that what you propose will not happen.
Good site debunking some of the myths surrounding the ideological need to cut public spending …
http://falseeconomy.org.uk/cure/how-big-is-the-problem
Q: Yes, our debt is going up and is higher than it was before the election.
A: But it’s still lower than it’s been for many years this century, and is lower than in many other similar countries.
Q: Yes, it’s costing more to pay back our debt and it’s going up.
A: But it’s lower than most years since the second world war. Just 6p in every pound of spending went on paying off debt last year, compared to 8p in 1996.
@Stephen
In my article explaining why I gave up giving tax advice I listed over a dozen examples, straight off the top of my head, of the damage Gordon Brown did to our tax system by adding needless complications that undermined its integrity.
My view is based on the facts which I saw first hand as a tax adviser, a tax partner and a contributor to numerous responses to so-called consultations.
http://www.taxadvicenetwork.co.uk/why