IS There A Legal Way Of Hiding Money From The Government?

consumer23
consumer23 Posts: 32 Forumite
in Savings & investments
Hi,

I have heard of various ways of hiding money away from the Government which would mean you would pay less tax, however I do not know anything more about it or where to hide it.

Is hiding money legal? And is money safe that is hidden away?

P.S. I'm not talking about hiding it under a bed or in a safe either.

Thanks
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Comments

  • jon3001
    jon3001 Posts: 890 Forumite
    consumer23 wrote: »
    P.S. I'm not talking about hiding it under a bed or in a safe either.

    So where are you planning on sticking it up?
  • Rollinghome
    Rollinghome Posts: 2,676 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    edited 15 October 2011 at 11:53PM
    consumer23 wrote: »
    Hi,

    I have heard of various ways of hiding money away from the Government which would mean you would pay less tax, however I do not know anything more about it or where to hide it.

    Is hiding money legal? And is money safe that is hidden away?

    P.S. I'm not talking about hiding it under a bed or in a safe either.

    Thanks
    Hiding money may or may not be legal, depending on your intentions; evading tax isn't and the taxman would make your life very uncomfortable if he thought you were attempting to do that.

    The question would be: why would you want to hide money from the government if what you were doing was legal?

    Doesn't mean you shouldn't use the tax breaks available to everyone such as ISAs and your CGT allowance.
  • talexuser
    talexuser Posts: 3,498 Forumite
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    edited 16 October 2011 at 12:02AM
    consumer23 wrote: »
    Hi, Is hiding money legal?

    Sure it is, become a multinational company, throw plenty of money at political parties, they keep lots of British dependencies as tax havens especially for you (Caymen, Bahamas etc), set up multiple subsidiaries there, channel your profits through these holding companies, make millions of profits in the UK but pay very very little, if any, tax. Then have a good laugh at your employees on PAYE paying more and more and getting less and less back in services.
  • gt94sss2
    gt94sss2 Posts: 5,625 Forumite
    Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post First Anniversary
    consumer23 wrote: »
    I have heard of various ways of hiding money away from the Government which would mean you would pay less tax

    There is a difference between tax avoidance (which is legal) and tax evasion (which is illegal)

    Tax avoidance is not the same as 'hiding' money from the government but using tax laws/rules to your benefit - examples of these could be saving money in ISAs or making pension contributions on which you get tax relief.

    Regards
    Sunil
  • MoneySaverLog
    MoneySaverLog Posts: 3,232 Forumite
    gt94sss2 wrote: »
    examples of these could be saving money in ISAs or making pension contributions on which you get tax relief.

    In both the above cases, BIG BROTHER is watching you. There is no way of hiding, we know what you are up to. :eek:
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,726 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    The only reason to Hide money from the govt, is for reasons of Tax evasion, which is illegal. So the answer to your question is no.

    EVen if you do have money in an acct in a place such as the Bahamas (which as a sovereign nation chooses their own laws on tax and therefore is not 'kept as tax havens for you by British political parties') you are legally required to mention these accts and their interest esp should any of that interest income or gains ever reach UK shores on your UK tax returns.
  • talexuser
    talexuser Posts: 3,498 Forumite
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    If governments really wanted to clamp down on the powerful avoiding tax, the tax havens could be sanctioned to change tomorrow. They don't.
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,726 Forumite
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    It is not the job of our govt to tell other countries how to run theirs. Not their job, not their electorate. Not unless their are human rights issues to address, which isn't the case in your above examples.
  • Ilya_Ilyich
    Ilya_Ilyich Posts: 569 Forumite
    Nobody's proposing changing the laws of other countries dude.
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,726 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    talexuser wrote: »
    If governments really wanted to clamp down on the powerful avoiding tax, the tax havens could be sanctioned to change tomorrow. They don't.


    "Sanctionned to change". yes they are Dude.
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