Tax haven UK is coming

Posted on December 17 2020

I really did not believe that the government would be daft enough to signal quite so soon that they really do intend to turn the UK into an even bigger tax haven than it already is  - but they're already laying the groundwork. And that's bad news for us in the UK, and for our status in the world, and for the credibility of the tax system as a whole. When, on the one hand, they say they're worried about deficits, and on the other want to promote mechanisms that will assist tax to not be paid it's very hard to take this government seriously.

 

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24 Responses

  1. Pilgrim Slight Return says:
    December 17 2020 at 7:33 am

    We’ve gone from ‘Divide and Conquer’ to ‘Divide and Bonkers’ in one fell swoop.

    But we know what the answer shall be don’t we?

    The manufactured issue will be the drain of the public purse on the ingrates and losers in society that Patel and Raab spoke about in ‘Britannia Unchained’.

  2. Roy Gillett says:
    December 17 2020 at 8:50 am

    For a couple of reasons, including a moderately severe hearing problem, I find video presentations difficult to follow

    Would it be possible in future to publish a transcript alongside these videos?

  3. MG says:
    December 17 2020 at 9:36 am

    How thoroughly depressing. I despair.
    Another 4 years of this and the country will be ruined

  4. CLIVE PARRY says:
    December 17 2020 at 10:10 am

    I think you make a really important definition – “secrecy jurisdiction”. It is this that is the real problem rather than “Asset Holding Companies” per se. The question is “Can an Asset Holding Company industry thrive without secrecy and tax avoidance?”. Theoretically, yes, empirically, no…… and for that reason I am concerned about the direction the Government is taking.
    However, in “the interest of balance” there is an alternative view. Of course, I am not expert in the area but I will take a chance (racing certainty??) of getting shot down in your reply!
    First, let’s imagine a purely domestic industry serving UK savers/investors. Asset Holding Companies are essential as they allow diversification and aggregation which are good things for investors/savers. It seems sensible that the tax implications of owning a portfolio of shares directly should be the same as owning share of an AHC that owns the same portfolio. If that is to be the case then the AHC has to operate tax free. However, the assets have to be managed and the Management Company (separate from the AHC) charges a fee for this and is an “ordinary” company that pays tax in the usual way. Investors in the AHC have to pay tax on income/capital gain in the usual way. In theory, this seems OK to me but I do accept there are problems. Eg. (1) AHCs can convert income into capital gain…. but the solution is to tax both at the same rate. (2) holding assets through a company might make it “easier/safer” to cheat when you complete your tax return ….. but the solution is transparency of ownership of all companies.
    Now, second, let’s expand this to embrace non-domestic investors. If the UK is good at it, why not offer the service globally? Yes, new levels of abuse are possible but those issues are between the investor and their local tax authority…. and as long as AHCs have transparent ownership and report to to those tax authorities then this should be OK. What about a US investor buying into a UK AHC that is managed by a German Fund Manager? Hmmm…. this where it is tricky as, in effect, the UK system is being used to the benefit of foreigners with very little benefit to the UK. But this could be ameliorated by certain requirements to procure services from UK companies (accountants, lawyers etc.). Am I worried that we become a nation of accountant/lawyers etc.? Yes – but no more worried than if we became over dependent on any particular sector of the economy.
    BUT this leads back to the first paragraph and secrecy – if you built a transparent system would anyone come and use it? I fear not and that is why I do not like the government’s proposal – its success depends on facilitating law breaking.
    PS I declare an interest. I am a Director of a Cayman based hedge fund. It is a favour to a friend, it is unpaid, I am not an investor in the fund (although I do choose to own the relevant assets directly myself), all the fund investors are known to me and I trust them to be honest with their local tax authorities.

  5. CLIVE PARRY says:
    December 17 2020 at 10:27 am

    AHCs are like Safe Deposit Boxes. In theory, there is nothing wrong with wanting to keep things safe. In practice, we know that some are used to store dodgy stuff.
    The only way to keep Safe Deposit Boxes legitimate is to check everything that is put in and everything that is taken out. If you did this, would you still have a viable Safe Deposit Box business? Who knows.
    What we do know is that this government is not interested in finding out – they will allow tax evasion and avoidance to flourish.

  6. Helen Schofield says:
    December 17 2020 at 10:48 am

    “Tax haven is coming” to be contrasted with Unicef for the first time in its 70 year history is now feeding hungry children in the UK:-

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/dec/16/unicef-feed-hungry-children-uk-first-time-history

    This ought to be telling voters in the UK its time to do a root and branch re-examination of their economic and political beliefs with nothing sacrosanct. This should start with how money is actually created and global trading actually currently works and the radical changed political ideology response necessary.

  7. Patrick Byrne says:
    December 17 2020 at 11:04 am

    Thanks for that, Richard, I am unaware of another website that provides this sort of information. It seems that those who said that this was why we are leaving the EU are correct.

  8. GerryC says:
    December 18 2020 at 5:35 am

    The no deal Brexiters have pulled it off and are gonna win their multi billion bet on shorting sterling. Contrast the media coverage they get with the hateful/racist bile directed at George Soros. He saw clearly that the £ was way over valued going into the ERM, told the world and then put his money where his mouth was, and was proven correct. Our Brexiters have lied, tried to bypass, or subvert Parliament, stymied the EU negotiations to get their way. The cost to most Britons will be felt in higher prices for basic essentials, mass unemployment, good businesses ruined, shortages, chaos on the streets, the army having already been put on alert.
    Why is our media not all over this?

  9. Pilgrim Slight Return says:
    December 18 2020 at 2:05 pm

    I’m afraid that you are right.

    Now with Russian emigre’s in the House of Lords, we are set up to be a place where criminal money can ‘ be lost’ and found again having been ‘cleaned’.

    And people like Boris, his supporters, the media can all have their noses in the trough keeping things exactly like they want them to be. A steady stable state of incoherence designed to keep us looking elsewhere whilst they get away with it and answerable to no one but themselves now that we have left Europe.