Cloud Cuckoo Land

[TheFaQQer]

I don't know. Why don't you ask Sir Philip Green, a close friend of the Blairs, who seems to pay no tax at all here and yet gets a Knighthood.

http://www.fashionunited.co.uk/Conte...d_20040903311/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Green#Tax_avoidance

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2...tax-avoidance/

Or indeed Lord Ashcroft, who despite pledging to move to the UK for tax status in order to get his lordship, has still failed to do so. But since he's bankrolling the Dave and George show, it's OK.

[stingman123]

Tax?

[Ravello]

I wouldn't mind paying tax so much if I felt that it was actually being spent in a useful way.

[PerlOfWisdom]

What puzzles me is that there are way too many people who think everything should be taxed, ffs, why? For example wtf there is a tax on inheritance? If someone earned their money and paid all taxes due (such as income tax or capital gains tax) then it should be their *****ing right to give that money to whoever they deem appropriate without any extra taxes - it's their ****ing money after all.

Inheritance tax is paid by (depending on how you look at it) one of two types of people:

The dead who don't need it.

Their beneficiaries who have got free money for doing nothing.

Is it any less fair to tax them than taxing a working person - making them work half their life for someone else.

[DimPrawn]

Inheritance tax is paid by (depending on how you look at it) one of two types of people:

The dead who don't need it.

Their beneficiaries who have got free money for doing nothing.

Is it any less fair to tax them than taxing a working person - making them work half their life for someone else.

How come the Royal Family don't pay inheritance tax?

Let's face it, when the Queen and that racist bloke she live with croak it, shouldn't IHT be levied on every Royal asset?

Only "fair"

[PerlOfWisdom]

How come the Royal Family don't pay inheritance tax?

Let's face it, when the Queen and that racist bloke she live with croak it, shouldn't IHT be levied on every Royal asset?

Only "fair"

Anyone can use the same methods to avoid it as they do.

[Bagpuss]

Anyone can use the same methods to avoid it as they do.

Change your name from German to English or Greek to English?

[AtW]

Inheritance tax is paid by (depending on how you look at it) one of two types of people:

The practical problem I have is this - houses are the biggest assets these days (despite falling prices), and if you live in the same house you inherit suddenly you might need to pay a huge amount of money very few people have, so you will have to sell the house you live in even if you had no intention of leaving it. Just how is it right?

Tax on the dead is completely wrong - super rich arrange their affairs so that they don't pay it or at least for them its small fish, but it really hits middle taxes.

Taxation should be there to alter behaviors (like say I think diesel should be cheaper than petrol to make people drive diesel cars and save fuel and money), but how does tax on death change behavior, you think people will die less? No, its a cynical money grab - how would you feel if robber stole lots of stuff from your house when you or your relative died using that death as good excuse to enrich himself? If you don't like it you should not like that tax. And i f you like that tax feel free to opt into paying it, just don't impose your views on others.

Is it any less fair to tax them than taxing a working person - making them work half their life for someone else.

Working persons can start their own business or become self employed, if immigrant can do it with all the language problems, visas etc then surely a local working person can also do it?

[SayWhat]

No tax no job...

If people don't pay tax, then there is no need for a government, therefore there basically no infrastructure so that leads to no companies which then leads to no jobs. Its a bit of a vicious circle... Interest rates used in conjunction with inflation targeting create a method to get you to spend money or in some cases taxes are used as a tool to get you to spend... then they collect revenue... idle money is a waste of wealth...

The trick to getting wealth is to bear in mind that the money game lies in debt, money was created from debt...

Rather than working out how to dodge some tax, it better to study the debt methods of our money system, you'll make yourself more cash that way then playing dodge the tax man... use him to your advantage and play the game smartly.

On the topic of capital gains tax, well you can only pay that if you realize a gain from a sale of property... so one way to play the game is not to sell it... Mortgage it to the hill, then pay some back to keep repayments up for a while... then shift the cash to other investments off your books i.e. like in a trust... then go gracefully bankrupt and you most probably realize a much better return... so in today world a person say at 30 slaves away till they 50 buying assets, paying the bank for them and then 20 years later mortgages those up nicely and prepares for retirement by borrowing against those and going broke... they then move on to retire in a nice warm place having made themselves decently rich.. in debt you make wealth...

[expat]

Of course taxation hits the middle classes. The working and poor classes don't have enough money, and the wealthy classes are able to avoid it.

Taxation should not be there to change behaviour. It should be for necessary government funding. As for behaviour, if it is undeniably harmful, make it a crime; if not, let people decide for themselves.