If they bought in a flat rate of 20% most people would declare their incomes and not mess around. Probably a lot of people abroad would pay their taxes here and I'm sure the revenue it would bring in would be much higher. However people who earn more according to the majority must be taxed a higher % as they have a moral obligation to do so and help the poor, it is the unwritten law of this country.....
Jimmy Carr overcome by grief
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If they bought in a flat rate of 20% most people would declare their incomes and not mess around. Probably a lot of people abroad would pay their taxes here and I'm sure the revenue it would bring in would be much higher. However people who earn more according to the majority must be taxed a higher % as they have a moral obligation to do so and help the poor, it is the unwritten law of this country.....
Soldato
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And back in reality where people (the overwhelming majority) tend to have a job...
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Today's apology by Jimmy Carr would appear to suggest that he doesn't entirely agree with your heart-warming support of his tax-dodging
That isn't really relevant, and I don't see how he is "dodging" tax if he has paid all that is required? He just hasn't paid over and above that.
I'm not saying I agree with it, my main issue is that David Cameron publicly singles him out when there are many, many more people doing exactly the same thing in this country, his government and even his own family. A bit hypocritical no?
If it is so morally wrong, then I can only assume Dave will promptly donate most of his inheritance either to charity, or pay it as extra tax.
EDIT: If you think that what Jimmy Carr has done is terrible, do you believe the same about, for example, fair trade goods? Is it morally wrong to buy goods from companies we all know full well screw over the workers actually producing the goods instead of spending more money and buying fair trade? The majority of people do this, do they not?
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perhaps we should all follow the greek example
According to a remarkable presentation that a member of Greece’s central bank gave last fall, the gap between what Greek taxpayers owed last year and what they paid was about a third of total tax revenue, roughly the size of the country’s budget deficit. The “shadow economy”—business that’s legal but off the books—is larger in Greece than in almost any other European country, accounting for an estimated 27.5 per cent of its G.D.P. (In the United States, by contrast, that number is closer to nine per cent.) And the culture of evasion has negative consequences beyond the current crisis. It means that the revenue burden falls too heavily on honest taxpayers. It makes the system unduly regressive, since the rich cheat more. And it’s wasteful: it forces the government to spend extra money on collection (relative to G.D.P., Greece spends four times as much collecting income taxes as the U.S. does), even as evaders are devoting plenty of time and energy to hiding their income.
or maybe not..
According to a remarkable presentation that a member of Greece’s central bank gave last fall, the gap between what Greek taxpayers owed last year and what they paid was about a third of total tax revenue, roughly the size of the country’s budget deficit. The “shadow economy”—business that’s legal but off the books—is larger in Greece than in almost any other European country, accounting for an estimated 27.5 per cent of its G.D.P. (In the United States, by contrast, that number is closer to nine per cent.) And the culture of evasion has negative consequences beyond the current crisis. It means that the revenue burden falls too heavily on honest taxpayers. It makes the system unduly regressive, since the rich cheat more. And it’s wasteful: it forces the government to spend extra money on collection (relative to G.D.P., Greece spends four times as much collecting income taxes as the U.S. does), even as evaders are devoting plenty of time and energy to hiding their income.
or maybe not..
Soldato
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But we all know it is the middle classes that always have and always will pay for the running of this country.
Higher earners can afford to employ specialists to help with efficient tax planning, who else can warrant the costs involved to save tax? (It really isn't cheap to be involved in one of these schemes BTW).
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Soldato
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Cameron has said the straightforward tax avoidance arrangements of Jimmy Carr are "morally wrong"; Osborne has described aggressive tax avoidance as "morally repugnant". Tax dodging by the Tory Deputy Chairman Michael Ashcroft, the Tory adviser Philip Green, Vodafone, Amazon, Boots, etc., etc., etc. is completely different and is absolutely fine, perhaps even an indication of their public spirited wealth creation.
Jimmy Carr has now apparently said that he made "a terrible error of judgement" over being a tax-dodging scumbag - "I'm no longer involved in it and will in future conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly. Apologies to everyone. Jimmy Carr." (BBC online).
Yeah, right
On a slightly more optimistic front, it may be that in desperation, Cameron and Osborne have finally realised that claiming "You are all in this together" whilst turning a blind eye to blatant tax-dodging is not doing their credibility or electoral chances any good.
Welcome to the real world, you pathetic rich kids
Morally wrong or not, he is doing nothing wrong. I personally will pay as little tax as legally possible.
I prefere to think of it as helping the economy with my increased disposable income
Quite surprised just how morally void a lot of people on here are. If you are earning a few million a year and paying the same amount of tax as someone on the minimum wage then you are taking the ****. You might not be breaking the law but you are purposely trying to avoid paying your portion of the tax burden.
I really hate the argument of "its not illegal so its ok".
We all judge people based on their moral compasses and yet we decide that avoiding tax is alright. You meet a guy in the street who has 7 women on the go at the same time and is sleeping with all of them without protection. Obviously he is a fine chap and shouldn't be derided for his behaviour as its completely legal.
I genuinely wouldn't evade tax if I was earning hundreds of thousands. This country has done plenty for me and if I was earning that much, I wouldn't need more money. This country would be a better place if people didn't equate the law to morality.
I really hate the argument of "its not illegal so its ok".
We all judge people based on their moral compasses and yet we decide that avoiding tax is alright. You meet a guy in the street who has 7 women on the go at the same time and is sleeping with all of them without protection. Obviously he is a fine chap and shouldn't be derided for his behaviour as its completely legal.
I genuinely wouldn't evade tax if I was earning hundreds of thousands. This country has done plenty for me and if I was earning that much, I wouldn't need more money. This country would be a better place if people didn't equate the law to morality.
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why? cant you understand it if i dont? this is a forum. im not writing a thesis or publishing any works. its informal and 99.99% of people can understand text without capitalisation.
Soldato
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To be honest the fact that individuals are benefiting from these schemes is only scratching the surface anyway - companies getting tax breaks to finance R&D, avoid paying tax on profits etc are far more common.
For example: most of the big budget films are only made because of the tax breaks companies have signed up to.
This is the same for the biomedical industry, land/sea research and even down to charitable contributions.
For example: most of the big budget films are only made because of the tax breaks companies have signed up to.
This is the same for the biomedical industry, land/sea research and even down to charitable contributions.
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You can say that all you like, but why didn't you reply to what Telescopi said when he posted it then?
Yeah, I bet you 'missed it'.
already replied to that. did you miss it?
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Whilst the rich suggest "Let them eat cake." and we know how that ended up
It makes me laugh with Greece. They have always had a system where people don't pay the taxes that they should and get away with it.
Most people in Greece are self employed in their jobs and it's far more lx than over here for the criteria to be self employed.
Everybody has a 12,000 euro personal tax free allowance.
Bizarrely enough, only 4% of doctors earn over 12,000 euros on their tax returns to pay tax.
Another example, is my inlaws landlord. He owns and rents out 20 properties and their is a 20% rental discount if you pay cash which obviously everybody does. He also owns acres of olive groves but it is all split up into chunks with various family members so nobody is over their 12,000 euro allowance.
Net result is a man who buys a new Merc every year and owns two boats but has a taxable income of less than 12,000 euros per year.
The Greeks have tax avoidance off to a tee.
This isn't a tax break though. The government have not come out and said "If you are earning a lot of money and don't want to pay as much tax as you are now let us know and we will reduce it.
Plenty of industries receive subsidies from the government but they are not raking in millions and millions in profit usually.
You don't have to be morally void to have money in your bank account. I am always amazed at people capacity to justify their ****** behaviour to themselves.
"Everyone does it"
"I have an excuse"
"Its not illegal"
already replied to that. did you miss it?
Ah, so you did. I didn't see that when I looked.
Thanks for calling me a '******', whatever that is.
You still ooze massive amounts of jealousy from what I can see. The OP is the worst of all.
They might not be particularly good with money but I doubt they actively try to to waste it.
Roads, schools, public transport, police, defence, care, pensions, benefits street lights, rubbish collection, courts, prisons. Thats just a few of the things I quite like having.
I think that I am much happier in a society that taxes.
Soldato
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Some of it is, most of it isn't!
Funny you say that but we had a case that we came across recently and it seems that there are a lot of cases where companies actually negotiate the tax they pay.
Football is the worst I've come across - the way I've seen their contracts structured the amounts they actually get paid for playing football just because of the way it can be paid into offshore/European companies.
Look at Luxembourg, Switzerland and Delaware if you really want to find unpaid taxes!
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