How much money is hidden away in the UK

homelessskilledworker

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18944097


You have to wonder how much is hidden away in the UK, how much money is being laundered away(sometimes using high big name Banks), how many of the top 5% earners are paying crafty accountants to pay next to zero tax, Jimmy Carr hang you head in shame.

I am a big fan of Wimbledon tennis(lived there for a while), cannot afford the tickets these days but it was nice to soak the atmosphere up around the village. From what I am seeing the elite of this country are not struggling at all, the corperate industry is doing very nicely. On Friday I am off to the Olympic opening, but no way could I get any tickets for what I wanted, making do with a friday afternoon at the Globe to see Taming of the shrew and then soak up the atmosphere on the Southbank in the evening.

I was aware of the perception of David Cameron and George Osbourne being totally desensitized to the struggle of the average Guy, and the wrapping in wool of the elite rich, but now I am certain of it and changed my view on these two idiots.

There are a vast group of people in the UK that get up every morning and do the work that keeps the REAL UK ticking along, the group of people that feed us, keep us safe from fire and illness and save us from accidents, they do all the rol your sleeves up graft. They are the ones that earn betwen £20k and £30k, and many of them pay their 25% tax along with paying their way in life, and many of these people are clinging on by their fingernails while £ Billions is illegally hidden away, and in some cases it is hidden away with the blessing of the Law and our friends David and George.

mr_fishbulb

Does this mean there will be an increase in sales of metal detectors?

I'm going to be out searching for some of it. Is there a treasure map available?

homelessskilledworker

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18949788


The government is promising to "name and shame" wealthy people who use aggressive tax avoidance schemes.

Treasury minister David Gauke will announce that finance firms will be forced to hand over details of the clients on their books.

MacMickster

The argument that we constantly hear from the wealthy is that if they are taxed too heavily then they will just take their money out of the UK, instead of using it to invest for the good of the British economy and, by implication, the rest of us.

What this study shows

A global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion (£13tn) hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study.
The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined.

is that the rich will actually stick as much of their money as they can in tax havens anyway. Greed generally trumps altruism.

This should provide a kick up the backside to change the way that we collect taxes from the rich in this country. We need to heavily tax the PURCHASE and import of what we might consider to be badges of wealth.

These could be homes bought for over £1million, second properties, cars and boats costing over £35K, fees to land private jets etc.

Also name and shame both companies and individuals who engage in aggressive tax avoidance, and actively encourage the public to take an ethical stance and boycott their goods and services in favour of those who pay their fair dues in taxes.

We cannot tackle the public finances of this country by cutting spending alone. We must also significantly increase the tax take from those who can most afford it.

wotsthat

Why should anyone be 'named and shamed' for using tax avoidance schemes?

If the government is so concerned about avoidance why don't they get ahead of the game and close down some of these schemes or make it illegal to use them?

Naming and shaming tax evaders - I'm all for that - put them in prison too after a visit to the stocks for all I care.

MacMickster

wotsthat wrote: »

Why should anyone be 'named and shamed' for using tax avoidance schemes?

Well if they don't find their actions shameful, those who use these schemes won't mind being named will they?

HappyMJ

I've got about £200 hidden in my money box in loose change...Does that count?

wotsthat

MacMickster wrote: »

Well if they don't find their actions shameful, those who use these schemes won't mind being named will they?

If the government wanted people to drive at 68mph on motorways presumably change the law. I doubt whether they'd keep the existing limit but start trying to humiliate people who drove at 69mph.

The government are trying to deflect from the fact that they aren't on top of the legislation.

MacMickster

wotsthat wrote: »

If the government wanted people to drive at 68mph on motorways presumably change the law. I doubt whether they'd keep the existing limit but start trying to humiliate people who drove at 69mph.

The government are trying to deflect from the fact that they aren't on top of the legislation.

Aggressive tax avoidance schemes are all about frustrating the intentions of the elected government of this country, by exploiting unintended interactions between pieces of legislation.

Due to the complexity of the legislation it is impossible to avoid such unintended interactions when altering the taxes acts each year.

As it is now apparently going to be compulsory to not only notify these aggressive avoidance schemes but also those using them, then why not go the whole hog and charge a flat rate tax of say £1billion per annum on each person using these schemes.

That should wipe out the tax avoidance industry at a stroke.

Carl31

wotsthat wrote: »

Why should anyone be 'named and shamed' for using tax avoidance schemes?

If the government is so concerned about avoidance why don't they get ahead of the game and close down some of these schemes or make it illegal to use them?

Naming and shaming tax evaders - I'm all for that - put them in prison too after a visit to the stocks for all I care.

Exactly this

I heard on the radio this morning that the Government is considering making people disclose their Tax avoidance methods. If its such a big problem, why dont they change their laws that allow it? The whole 'concern' piece at the moment is nothing more than a empty attempt to raise popularity

chewmylegoff

i think people already do have to disclose their tax avoidance methods - my understanding is that tax avoidance schemes are required to register with HMRC, and people using them are required to declare that they are participating on their tax returns.

if the govt just starts "naming and shaming" people for doing things that are actually legal, won't they just end up having to pay damages when they get sued for defamation, resulting in a massive waste of the tax that they are able to actually collect.