BN66 - lobbyng campaign funding

[BrilloPad]

I selected AndyW and I have 10k thanks put aside, you know just in case my tax affairs are not in order and HMRC comes knocking...

That 10k is for your wedding though. Well it will cover a third of the cost.

[nick4notax]

I'm curious as to why people think this will work. MPs may make reassuring noises in letters and constituency surgeries but the tide in Westminster is firmly against 'artificial schemes' / 'aggressive tax avoidance' / call it what you will. I understand the retrospective nature of the legislation and the impact on people's lives, but do people really think that this argument will sway Parliament?

So, those of you who would put money in. Do you think it really might work, or is worth an outside shot, or do you have nothing left to lose?

Well, old Greg, I think we are in a position of desparation and one where we have not done anything against the law yet are still being penalised/ruined. After all, they know the last govt lied through their teeth about this and I suspect they also know that if this case does get to ECHR, then our chances are greatly improved. It's often difficult to stay convinced of our position with all the fashionable rhetoric flying around these days, but we have not done anything wrong and our legislators need to act to solve this. I don't know about others but this issue has ruined the last 8 years of my life. I want them to recognise what Timms and co have done is wrong, fix it and compensate us. Even the US bans their own govt from behaving like this!..

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Do you think it really might work, or is worth an outside shot, or do you have nothing left to lose?

Even if it's a punt we ain't got much to lose.

[warlord]

We need a great angle

Even if it's a punt we ain't got much to lose.

Its all down to our angle....and we need a bloody good one.
I have explained my/our case to family and friends, most don't really understand, those that do think I am tax dodger....and well done HMRC.
Heaven help us all!
HMRC say I owe over 110K - but I have no means to pay.

[Emigre]

Given the current situation there does not seem to be any downside to such an approach......however I am a tad sceptical in the ability of lobbyists to get the MPs to stop,listen,comprehend and fully appreciate our arguments. We have discussed the history, the timeline, the decisions,the reasoning,the seeming injustices and the misleads on this forum to the nth degree and are familiar with all the nuances. How do you get MPs to get a crash course in all of this without their brains switching off within thirty seconds of the mention of tax planning scheme? That is the conjuring trick - find me a magician with the ability to do this and I am willing to contribute.

To date we have hit MPs with letters, many the same, with a scatter gun approach. Have we been clear about what our objective is? Well other than that we want to pay less tax. What do we want the MPs to do for us? How do we achieve that? How do we convert all the "supportive words" into real action in Westminster?

These are what a professional lobbying firm will do for us. There will be clear focus on where to go, who to see, and how to get through the door.

Nothing is guaranteed unless we do nothing. In this instance I think we should fear the worst and hope for the best.

I mean what is £200 when HMRC is claiming £100k plus from each of us? Some guys are offering to pay £2k or more. Collectively we can still achieve something, individually you can forget it.

[Steven@Parasol]

Just keep in mind that a decent lobbying company based in London will charge from about £7K to £10K a month and there are no guarantees when it comes to results. A lot of organisations spent a lot of money lobbying against IR35, AWR, etc and so on, and got nowhere.

Lots of nice replies from MPs and smiley meetings yes, actual results no.

The current media zeitgeist is also against you. You have high profile opposition MPs calling limited company PSCs tax dodgers etc and the Daily Mail and the sun (the two most read publications in this country) are lapping it up. The irony is the editor of both titles is probably doing it himself.

Say for example an MP has one BN66 victim turn up to his surgery every week. He will probaly have ten people turning up complaining about the 'squeezed middle' and 'millionaire tax dodgers'. Even though the MPs know that it's not as black and white as that, they will sacrifice one vote for ten.

The chancellor even used the phrase 'morally repugnat' when refering to tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance yesterday and the definitions of both seem to have been blurred recently.

I am not, by any means, trying to talk you out of anything or commenting on whether or not I think its a good idea or not. I'm sure none of you care. But do go into this fully aware of how these things work and be prepared for a lot of expense over a prolong period of time that may not generate any results.

[slogger]

To date we have hit MPs with letters, many the same, with a scatter gun approach. Have we been clear about what our objective is? Well other than that we want to pay less tax. What do we want the MPs to do for us? How do we achieve that? How do we convert all the "supportive words" into real action in Westminster?

These are what a professional lobbying firm will do for us. There will be clear focus on where to go, who to see, and how to get through the door.

Nothing is guaranteed unless we do nothing. In this instance I think we should fear the worst and hope for the best.

I mean what is £200 when HMRC is claiming £100k plus from each of us? Some guys are offering to pay £2k or more. Collectively we can still achieve something, individually you can forget it.

everyone I speak to who hasn't been directly hit by this has no sympathy - even friends who are solicitors say I was taking the p155 and basically deserve this - fortunately I can pay the muggers(hmrc). There seems to be more and more rhetoric directed at avoidance in a very negative sense - even by current government, I do feel quite negative about our prospects now (this may be a good thing as I was previously convinced we had no chance of losing prior to first hearings! hopefully I'm a good contraindicator!!)

one thing that may be worth looking at now is how to safeguard assets - why havent mtm helped in this? for example is it possible to have a house owned 50/50 (rather than the default shared ownership) with spouse - does this stop ir taking house? other ideas..?

[Guttersnipe]

Its all down to our angle....and we need a bloody good one.
I have explained my/our case to family and friends, most don't really understand, those that do think I am tax dodger....and well done HMRC.
Heaven help us all!
HMRC say I owe over 110K - but I have no means to pay.

Really? Most, if not all, of mine are aghast and quite a few talk about returning to Australia/NZ/SA/whichever fly-blown hellhole they used to call home.

[Toocan]

I'm curious as to why people think this will work. MPs may make reassuring noises in letters and constituency surgeries but the tide in Westminster is firmly against 'artificial schemes' / 'aggressive tax avoidance' / call it what you will. I understand the retrospective nature of the legislation and the impact on people's lives, but do people really think that this argument will sway Parliament?

So, those of you who would put money in. Do you think it really might work, or is worth an outside shot, or do you have nothing left to lose?

It's not really about tax avoidance though, it's about HMRCs conduct and their excessive delay. They never mentioned s858 (padmore) in all the long years. And it didn't apply. They have behaved as robbers, and beyond what is acceptable. That is what it is about.

[IH8GordonB]

Who do we lobby?

The only way I can see that this will sway any MPs is if we actually target and lobby big businesses that the UK is not a safe place for them to organise their tax affairs. That may then get some attention from MPs.