Paradise Papers

antrobus

leslieknope wrote: »

...the fact something like this is completely legal is beyond ridiculous. but i'll take my niceness elsewhere.

My understanding is that's its a fairly bog standard piece of er, 'tax planning'. The UK makes a lot of expensive boats. If you can afford a 5m super yacht you export it to Guernsey (wherever) so that you don't have to pay the VAT.

antrobus

westernpromise wrote: »

Probably because you pay so little you don't notice it.

Personally I think there should be a lifetime cap on PAYE, whereby once you've paid X, you pay nothing more for the rest of your life because you've made your contribution.

**** no. Someone has to pay my NHS costs.:)

MobileSaver

Tromking wrote: »

Most people ... the thought of trying to get out of paying the morally appropriate amount of tax

Again, seriously?!? As economic mentioned, the "morally appropriate amount of tax" would presumably be to keep enough of your income to keep you in beans on toast every day and then pay the rest into the public purse to help those less fortunate than you...? Is that what you and most people do or is the thought of that an anathema to YOU?

antrobus

News that Apple moved "untaxed offshore cash" amounting to $252bn, to Jersey. Apparently it went "shopping around for a tax haven" after the EU announced in 2013 that it was investigating it's "Irish arrangement".
.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41889787

Apple wanted to keep the move secret. But now we know.:)

Tromking

MobileSaver wrote: »

Again, seriously?!? As economic mentioned, the "morally appropriate amount of tax" would presumably be to keep enough of your income to keep you in beans on toast every day and then pay the rest into the public purse to help those less fortunate than you...? Is that what you and most people do or is the thought of that an anathema to YOU?

Not sure what your problem is.
You do get that most ordinary people don’t give the idea of gaming the tax system a moments thought don’t you?
Paying the morally appropriate amount of tax is a citizens civic duty in my view. If you and others want to sit on your money at the other end of the morality spectrum then go ahead, you can’t take it with you fella!:)

Arklight

leslieknope wrote: »

am i the only person in the world who would not avoid/evade tax, even if i could? maybe that's why i'm not rich... i think tax is something every person should pay to support and live in the country they're in... it wouldn't cross my mind not to pay it.

I suspect you have probably messed up by attempting to earn an income through working.

What you should do is go back to 1950 or 1960, be born then, monopolise a load of houses for 10% of their real value now, relentlessly vote for governments that refuse to build any more, then sit on your bum eating Pringles and voting for Brexits while your millennial tenants actually do a day's work to pay off your mortgages for you.

Don't forget to spend half your life lecturing people on the internet about your greatness.

economic

Tromking wrote: »

Not sure what your problem is.
You do get that most ordinary people don’t give the idea of gaming the tax system a moments thought don’t you?
Paying the morally appropriate amount of tax is a citizens civic duty in my view. If you and others want to sit on your money at the other end of the morality spectrum then go ahead, you can’t take it with you fella!:)

what does morally even mean when it comes to tax? i pay tax because i have to, not because i think its for the greater good of society.

MobileSaver

Tromking wrote: »

Paying the morally appropriate amount of tax is a citizens civic duty in my view.

If there are people in this country having to use food banks to feed themselves and their children then presumably the "morally appropriate amount" is everything you earn except for what you need to survive?

So you don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, no holidays, no mobile phone, only Freeview TV, no meals out, walk to work, no heating at home (just put extra layers of clothes on) etc. Is that how you live? Or does "morally appropriate" to you mean keeping enough to live a comfortable life for you and your family and sod those who are less fortunate?

The vast majority of UK citizens, whether rich or poor, simply pay the amount of tax that the law says they have to so your bizarre suggestion that there's a swathe of taxpayers who want to pay on a moral basis rather than a legal basis seems ludicrous to me...

MobileSaver

Tromking wrote: »

If you and others want to sit on your money at the other end of the morality spectrum then go ahead, you can’t take it with you fella!

If you are (and remain) an average wage earner then I have paid more income tax in one year than you will pay in your entire working life so when it comes to contributing to the public purse I don't think I'll worry about my position on the "morality spectrum."

Tromking

By morally appropriate I mean everything I earn is filtered through the UK tax authorities.