I've been highlighting the TUC's new tax abuse report this morning - called 'Kerching'.
As a result I was amused to get an email from a PR Agency representing the Milestone tax practice. That email said:
I hope you will be interested in the following expert comments from international tax lawyer Miles Dean, Founder of Milestone International Tax Partners, who believes that the TUC are somewhat behind the times.
“The TUC appear to be somewhat behind the times. Why don't they look beyond the UK and see what other countries are doing? Look at Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, US, Canada — they all give tax breaks to wealthy foreigners to welcome them to their shores.
“It's dead easy to say “close all the loopholes” but this typifies the gross ignorance of people pontificating about tax. If the TUC want people to take them seriously, why don't they list the loopholes (specifically referring to the legislation) in question?”
Actually, we did say precisely what loopholes we wanted shut: see here, but let's not worry about the fact that Mr Dean clearly couldn't make it to the last page of Kerching and instead note that his solution to tax havens is - to turn the UK into a tax haven! What a stroke of genius from the founder of a firm that describes itself as:
a boutique international tax practice established in Mayfair, London. The team comprises young, dynamic lawyers who have specialised in international tax throughout their careers.With a focus on multi-jurisdictional corporate transactions, we provide commercially driven tax solutions that are tailored specifically to the needs and requirements of each client.
We have extensive knowledge of a number of tax systems. Through our understanding of trends and developments in anti-avoidance laws, double tax treaties and EU directives, together with many years of experience in international planning concepts and techniques, we deliver an expert, value-added service from start to finish.
Do you think from this that they might already be pretty heavily committed to tax havens? And might their location in Mayfair - the heart of non-dom Britain - suggest some bias on this issue when the TUC has very specifically suggested that rule be abolished? Surely not......
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Having just belatedly read the Private Eye report on Tax Haven Britain, this sounds just the ticket for hiding the purloined assets of resource-rich, poorly governed states.
“……. this typifies the gross ignorance of people pontificating about tax……….” a man to avoid!
to be fair the link you provided dosent really list any loopholes to be closed (apart arguably from the non-dom position which is a statutory relief rather than a loophole itself).
perhaps he wanted something along the lines of – abolish S.XX of ICTA because its impact is XYZ, which to be honest would be more powerful than simply saying “abolish unnecessary tax reliefs enjoyed primarily by the wealthiest individuals” – i mean which ones are they. If Gordon went to the TUC and said ok, tell me which ones to get rid of, could they actually tell him?
Now this may surprise you but Cameron doesn’t also detail legislation section numbers when he writes for the Sun
We’ve detailed the issues many times
It’s just lazy to say otherwise
And anyway – the demands are actually remarkably clear
[…] I mentioned an attack on the TUC’s tax avoidance spoof magazine ‘Kerching‘ by Mayfair lawyer Miles Dean yesterday. […]