No To Retro Tax – Campaign Against Section 58 Finance Act 2008

[Morlock]

Read a great book recently, The Establishment. Worth a read if you want to really know how two-faced those in power are. The author bangs on about tax avoidance while also stating that tax gets redirected into the hands of the rich anyway, but some of the research is incredible. Fair share? No such thing, there's only their share.

I recall hearing a radio interview with the finance minister of a large African country, who said something along the lines of: "We are trying to create an affluent middle class in our country. Because only the middle class pay any taxes."

[sjw]

Eerily familiar....

Footballers who once earned millions face penury over tax demands | Football | The Guardian

[sjw]

Footballers who once earned millions face penury over tax demands | Football | The Guardian

Well apart from earning millions that is...

[OnYourBikeGB]

Footballers who once earned millions face penury over tax demands | Football | The Guardian

Good line this one:

This is a reflection of the sterner, post-banking collapse view of tax avoidance.

Sterner for everyone, except for the bankers, it seems. You can go to prison for £60 of benefit fraud, or you can get invited to dinner with Cameron, Gauke and Osborne et al if you rip the country off for billions. I suppose it keeps we plebs in our place.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Footballers who once earned millions face penury over tax demands | Football | The Guardian

This is a mere taste of things to come.

If wealthy footballers are struggling to pay APNs, what will happen when HMRC start issuing them to tens of thousands of contractors?

[DonkeyRhubarb]

"The guidance stated that “accelerated payment notices” relating to tax avoidance cases would be issued to around 33,000 taxpayers, concerning £5.1bn under dispute. HMRC emphasised that the people affected had an average gross income of £262,000."

Sounds about right for most contractors.

[BolshieBastard]

This is a mere taste of things to come.

If wealthy footballers are struggling to pay APNs, what will happen when HMRC start issuing them to tens of thousands of contractors?

Well even that article makes avoidance appear to be the same as evasion.

Not to be pedantic but I think the ones struggling to pay are those who have recently stopped playing and no longer have the big incomes.

It will however highlight to the general public if footballers, even ex ones, are struggling with APNs they had better watch out.

But, I wonder how many more people will just say 'tough' they had the money and didnt pay their taxes so no sympathy?

[DonkeyRhubarb]

But, I wonder how many more people will just say 'tough' they had the money and didnt pay their taxes so no sympathy?

Most of the general public probably.

Still it creates a headache for HMRC enforcing APNs for a hypothetical tax liability that hasn't even been proven in court.

What they going to do? Seize assets, bankrupt thousands of contractors?

[TykeMerc]

But, I wonder how many more people will just say 'tough' they had the money and didnt pay their taxes so no sympathy?

I hate to say it, but I'm amongst those people. I have no sympathy for scheme users who knew they were taking the mickey with the tax rules.

There's a simple reason I support the BN66 thread and that's the retrospective nature of the legislation, I find that deeply offensive.

[centurian]

Not to be pedantic but I think the ones struggling to pay are those who have recently stopped playing and no longer have the big incomes.

Ironically footballers are a perfect example of the intended usage of such investment reliefs - as it allows them to smooth their taxable income beyond their playing career, so that when the investment returns start to become taxable - their income from the "day job" tails off, hence reducing the average tax rate over a period of decades.

Of course, one suspects that only a small percentage of them actually used the reliefs like that - as many schemes try to make sure the tax is never paid at all.