Goldman Sachs 'considering' tax avoidance scheme for employees.

There is the other side of the argument though, people talk about 'the spirit of fairness' but it's bankers who create wealth anyway, so we generally wouldn't be living in such plush conditions(arguably) as we are now if it wasn't for their work.
 
This is what everyone will do and will be used as evidence that lowering the tax was a good thing as revenues went up.

However, all that happened is they got less, just all delayed till the next tax year.

Can see it now

50% tax rate 2012/2012 -> x revenue
45% tax rate 2013/2014 -> y revenue

I wonder how it will be spun.
 
Kemik said:
There is no scheme. They're paying the rate of tax at the time the payment is made.

Don't listen to everything you hear in the media. Tax advisors don't open a big book of tax avoidance and start up these elaborate transaction flows to avoid tax.
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I'm more than aware what goes on. It's rife. From tradesmen, to bankers, to contractors, to multinationals. I've not worked for a company that isn't involved in some kind of tax fiddle, it's the only way they can remain competitive.

In many cases you don't need a tax advisor it's so common place. If you were to ask a tax advisor he wouldn't need a book.
 
Fubsy said:
But the points made were that this is to provide further happiness to already handsomely paid bankers at the expense of the majority of poorly paid taxpayers, who in general are having a pretty rough time of things. It is just greed for the sake of greed.
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It works in the favour of GS actually... tis quite a shewed move IMO as I'd be cynical and say its got a staff retention aspect. Reason is most bankers (for obvious reasons) wait until after immediately their bonuses have been paid in order to switch jobs.. this means there is a lot of hiring going on around bonus time. If all the top guys at GS have their bonuses delayed (under the idea that this is tax efficient for them) any that might have been considering leaving or might have been tempted by a head hunter's offer now has a dilemma - usually you get some guaranteed bonus deal if you're leaving mid way though the year but around this time there will be plenty of other candidates to fill the vacancy so not much need for a new employer to offer this.

estebanrey said:
Not really the right question. A better one would be "If you already had more money that you needed to live on and you were then offered a choice, would you take $100k and not look bad and have to face possible abuse when asked who you work for or $110k but with most people you meet thinking you're a ****** and scared to mention your employer's name"
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Its not an issue for most of them... 2nd rule of fight club etc....
 
Also LOL at being outraged at this as a form of tax avoidance... if you want a real example of dubious tax avoidance re: bonuses then look up the case involving RBS's former commodities subsidiary - Sempra... they set up a scheme where cash was provided to their spouses as loans from an offshore trust...

delaying a bonus payment because it will attract a slightly lower rate is hardly underhand... as far as avoidance goes its pretty sensible
 
Goldman Sachs are the reason the worlds economy is up the ****. So it is hardly surprising those greedy *Insert Profanity here* pull stuff like this. The worms always do as much as possible to keep as much in their own pockets.
 
kitkat9933 said:
Goldman Sachs are the reason the worlds economy is up the ****. So it is hardly surprising those greedy *Insert Profanity here* pull stuff like this. The worms always do as much as possible to keep as much in their own pockets.
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Still beating that dead horse huh?

It happened. Deal with it and move on.
 
kitkat9933 said:
Goldman Sachs are the reason the worlds economy is up the ****. So it is hardly surprising those greedy *Insert Profanity here* pull stuff like this. The worms always do as much as possible to keep as much in their own pockets.
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you can blame any number of people/groups for that tbh...

the US govt, African Americans, David Bowie....

to blame 'the bankers' alone is a bit silly
 
I completely disagree that this is tax avoidance as the thread title suggests. They're are entitled to pay bonuses whenever that want. One could almost call it coincidence that it falls after the reduction in tax.

Furthermore it's almost impossible to blame anyone for the state of the world economy. It is not down to an individual (company or entity). It's a bit close-minded to think that one company can "ruin" an economy.
 
cheechm said:
I completely disagree that this is tax avoidance as the thread title suggests.
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it is tax avoidance.... but in the same way that someone who makes sure they've invested in an ISA before the end of the tax year is practicing tax avoidance - its nothing underhand, doesn't involve some elaborate scheme or attempts to bend the rules - its simply minimising your tax bill in a fairly straightforward and sensible way
 
dowie said:
it is tax avoidance.... but in the same way that someone who makes sure they've invested in an ISA before the end of the tax year is practicing tax avoidance - its nothing underhand, doesn't involve some elaborate scheme or attempts to bend the rules - its simply minimising your tax bill in a fairly straightforward and sensible way
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You're right. I got confused between tax avoidance and tax evasion! This is tax avoidance, but that phrase shouldn't carry all the negative connotations that it does because it isn't illegal as you say.

Ignore everything I've said. Confused this for tax evasion! :D
 
cheechm said:
I completely disagree that this is tax avoidance as the thread title suggests. They're are entitled to pay bonuses whenever that want. One could almost call it coincidence that it falls after the reduction in tax.
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Of course it is. They've always paid it in January, but now they want to pay it after April 6th.

If you think that is a 'coincidence' you're being obtuse.
 
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