Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Nothing necessarily wrong with using a tax shelter. Avoiding tax is legal and quite moral.

Haze,

Pop down to Central office and ask them how to spin the offshore tax "avoidance" schemes.

Friends in high places?

What a bunch.

I am glad Manuel,JB and Vicky support them with their votes.

i recollect that even fred has taken steps to minimise his iht liabilities ..... and why not indeed?

i've written similar b4, but for those of a sanctimonious and/or jealous disposition, i'll pretty much repeat ....

it has always been perfectly legal to set up family trusts off-shore, though the rules get changed every 5/10 years

if the rules are obeyed - eg declaration to the powers that be - then i have no problem at all

however, and as already voiced, panama has always been a questionable depository
on the other hand, places like channel islands, isle of man and even bermuda are tax havens but properly regulated

==================

i am not jealous of those who inherit wealth, and indeed i shall take reasonable precautions to minimise my own iht liabilities

why should the taxman steal any more than the fair minimum from my children?

A few weeks ago, Cameroon was spouting on about big overseas co's taking the piss tax wise, tax havens etc.

Then we have the spectacle of our own Prime Minister's family doing exactly the same thing.

He must have known, he cant claim ignorance.

His position is untenable.

It doesn't matter what Cameron's father was doing. It might matter if it was Cameron himself. Who wants to pay more tax than necessary. I would change things so that there was only one rate of tax. Higher earners pay more tax by virtue of earning more. They shouldn't have to pay a higher rate as well. In fact I would make anything over £100,000 tax free. Good luck to anyone who avoids tax, especially to those who pay no tax at all.

A free for all eh Haystack?

Sounds good, how long do you reckon you would last?


btw, Cameroon has made a big thing of saying he and his family have no offshore dealings. Good for him, but what about his mum?

Consider who produces the "wealth" and where the "wealth" is produced.

Why would anyone care what Cameron's mother does with her money? Philip Green who owns Top Shop pays no tax as the company is owned by his wife and is resident in Monaco. There is no tax to pay there. It saved him about £1b in tax in a recent year.

On that basis, you could say why would anyone care what Amazon does with it's money?

Think of it as the Mafia family!

yet again for the sanctimonious and jealousy-driven among us ......

it has always been perfectly legal to set up family trusts off-shore, though the rules get changed every 5/10 years

if the rules are obeyed - eg declaration to the powers that be - then i have no problem at all

however, and as already voiced, panama has always been a questionable depository
on the other hand, places like channel islands, isle of man and even bermuda are tax havens but properly regulated

==================

i am not jealous of those who inherit wealth, and indeed i shall take reasonable precautions to minimise my own iht liabilities

why should the taxman steal any more than the fair minimum from my children?

Oh do stop inventing things Alf, off shore tax avoiding/evading is nothing to do with jealousy, among other things it's about being a scrounger.

The fact that their tax rate is lower in the 1st place and secondly shifting some/all of there gains out of the Country is what most reasonable people think is wrong.

If you earn the money within this Country then it's only right that you contribute to the running of it by paying your taxes in it.

Stan,

Agreed!

Someone would be happy to be the godfather!

MaxK
I don't care what Amazon does with its money,

Don't care just about sums you up.

Amazon are doing nothing illegal. I am happy that they are doing legal things. If the law changes then I will be happy if they obey the new laws. Avoiding tax is just common sense and good business practice. There is no morality involved no matter how much the lefties bleat about it.

Well said Stan re#69644

The other way is what the Vikings done to blighty, before blighty learned how to do it properly.

This, and any other complex country requires money to fund it's endevours, coming in and nicking the business without paying a fair whack leads to the country going downhill, it bleeds it dry.

However, Haystack thinks that's fine and dandy.

You are on the wrong side of logic!

I didn't say it was fine. I said I was happy that they obey the law. The answer is not to moan about Amazon but to change the law. Amazon has a duty to its shareholders to maximize profits and that involves paying the least tax within the law. Amazon's first duty is to its shareholders and not to the UK.

hays its the bastards that avoid paying their taxes that set the rules .
Cameron and any other mp who is found to be avoiding and fiddling their taxes
should be named and shamed and banned from working in any gov post