It's been an extraordinary few days.
Amazon's tax was exposed. They've done nothing illegal, of course, but their conduct has clearly been judged unacceptable.
The tax affairs of politicians have become issues of public debate - Ken and Boris have guaranteed that in perpetuity. The move to tax transparency in the public domain has, I suspect, become unstoppable. Polly Toynbee argues for it universally this morning. I have sympathy, but until now have always thought it a step too far.
The use of companies without obvious commercial reason, but with a resulting benefit in terms of tax paid has also entered public debate - again thanks to Ken Livingstone. Will that issue now go away?
And now another backlash to Osborne's hapless budget, which has resulted in his admission that tax avoidance is vastly bigger than HMRC have ever previously advised is set to propel legal but ethically unacceptable tax abuse centre stage for time to come.
Now I don't want to count chicknes; that's always unwise, and yet this has the feeling of being a tipping point - a time after which attitudes change, irreversibly.
I have argued since 2008 that tackling tax avoidance, tax evasion and tax paid late - a combined total of £120 billion - provides a radical alternative to the chosen cuts agenda. Now that is becoming increasingly obviously possible.
I'm nit saying we could solve all issues by collecting tax - quite clearly the weakness in investment and the lack of demand are both key economic issues to be addressed. But the cuts agenda has always been wrong when simply collecting tax due has always been the alternative.
Will we now see the investment needed to achieve that result?
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Isn’t the best course to have everyone’s tax affairs published but anonymised, which gives those wishing to come up with new insurance ideas some of the necessary details with which to create them? This is what Robert Shiller calls GRIDS.
Richard, while I think you are being a tad optimistic at this point, there clearly has been a sea change in the last twelve months, and that is most welcome. In particular, the focus on the comparison of total tax paid compared to revenue is critical, since that ratio helps cut through avoidance behaviours and neo-liberal structural distortions. Like you I used to think that publishing every person’s tax return was a step too far, but now I think it is the only way to assure transparency and fairness, regards, Dave
Also interesting that over the weekend Sky News suggested that taxing state pensions at source under PAYE was being discussed. I hope that this is not a ruse for the Govt to withhold part of the pension for some as I am sure that it would need many more staff at HMRC to issue tax codes for millions of pensioners whose only source of income was the state pension. The current mantra of reducing back office staff to cut costs ( sorry I mean to improve efficiency) has been shown to be completely counter productive in many organisations both in the public and private sector.
I certainly hope that the tipping point has been reached in the debate about tax avoidance. However policy has to be enacted through parliament and there has to be sufficient well trained staff to counter all the loopholes which have allowed these practices to continue for so long. Do we have a political party which is committed to following through on this? I have my doubts.
George Osborne, retains 15 per cent of family £32 million business via a family trust but pays standard rate tax – avoidance? Surely not!
A very long way to go yet Richard.
Ever since I read George Monbiot’s article decribing the intentions of this government to reduce corporation tax and remove the obligation to pay the extra UK tax on foreign operations, I have felt that anything they say about tax avoidance to be totally disingenuous.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/07/tax-city-heist-of-century
This government receives donations from banks and corporations to work for their interests.
We need a change of government to begin pressing for morality in tax issues.
If Labour does not pick up this issue I seriously wonder whether they’ll ever be fit for future office
The words ‘gift horse’ and ‘moth’ come to mind
But such things have been ignored before
Of course, it would require that they admit tax mistakes as well as banking regulation mistakes – but what the heck – we all know they made mistakes. Why not admit it?
A society that operates a rule of ‘law’,which is hardly a controversial concept,cannot at the same time impose an ever moving,and probably retrospective,concept of attempt to breach the spirit of the law,in respect of tax or any other form of human behaviour.The old take-over panel rules,which relied on the concept of breaches of the ‘spirit ‘of the rules,operated openly on the basis that they were NOT legally enforceable,but achieved a not universal level of acceptance by publication of acts deemed not to be in keeping with the spirit. A society that permits a government or legal system to blow the whistle on a legal late tackle which is then held to be somehow against the ‘spirit’ of the game is well on the road to totalatarianism,from left or right,which history shows is a disaster.Make tax laws simple,clear,and with no exemptions,and accept that capitalism produces a few Usain Bolt’s.
Nonsense
Tax avoiders know exactly what they’re going
Radio 4 has gone to your head.When faced with a reasoned argument,you capitulate with ‘nonsense’, rather than a reply of substance.
I do not agree you presented a reasoned argument
You presented an excuse for abuse