What's the big deal with BN66?

[AtW]

Tax evasion is part of our heritage.

This is from Wikipedia but the facts are not important here just the background

That's bollox mate. Do you know the pirates' rules? Among the if one pirate nicks a single peso that would be hanging - this means that nicking from others might be ok, but if you tulip in your own backyard then you'd get it ...

[AtW]

You can't con the conman.

And why do you expect to be able to con the taxpayer?

It's one thing to use questionable grey scheme that gets you down from 40% to 30%, ok - some loss, hard to deal with, but getting it down from 40% to 3.5% which is near zero is a threat to the whole system of taxation - the judge said it pretty clearly: everyone (apart from barristers?) could have used such scheme and pay bugger all tax, that in itself clearly shows that this scheme is very wrong.

I've love much lower tax, however when you get a bunch of people to pay bugger all because of legal/accounting games, it will only mean the rest will have to pay for them in order to make up for the shortfall.

[David Cameron]

I dont claim to know the details about the case, I have read parts over the while. And it is not a scheme I would have chosen to use.

But....

I think anyone with a small amount of common decency and empathy towards other human beings would recognise now is not the time to start a thread about how they deserved what they have recieved. The day after they have receive a ruling that could devastate marriages and lives is not the day to start threads like this. To my mind it says more about the OP and what kind of person he/she is than anything else. Thier are victims that never might have made the choice that has caused these issues, they are now upheaval and pain, wether you blame HMRC or the spouse/relative that chose the scheme is irrelevant, the pain is still real. And some jumped up internet warrior with the empathy of a rock just shows his/her total lack of class by discussing it as callously as the OP has.

Obviously this thread this isnt againt forum rules, and the OP can justify however he/she wants, but that just indicates even further what type of person they are.

To the people who made this decision to join BN66, good luck, not so much with the legal situation (I dont know enough to judge the case), but more with you as people. You are hurting and unlike others I take no joy from that.

[AtW]

Obviously this thread this isnt againt forum rules, and the OP can justify however he/she wants, but that just indicates even further what type of person they are.

What the OP said was:

If you were avoiding tax using off-shore schemes then you've signed your own warrant IMO.

If it were legit then all of us would be doing it, but we're not. Why do you suppose that is?

It's got far more attention than it deserves me thinks....

What kind of person scooterscot is?

Presumably the kind that would not use offshore tax schemes.

[David Cameron]

What kind of person scooterscot is?

Presumably the kind that would not use offshore tax schemes.

Yes quite clearly, and neither would I.

But you seem to have missed my point, I assume intentionally, so wont bother trying to repeat it.

[sweetandsour]

That's bollox mate. Do you know the pirates' rules? Among the if one pirate nicks a single peso that would be hanging - this means that nicking from others might be ok, but if you tulip in your own backyard then you'd get it ...

Do you have no understanding of life 200 years ago?

For all of the people that lived in the southern part of the country, evading the customs man was treated as a sport.

[Mich the Tester]

now is not the time to start a thread about how they deserved what they have recieved.

Erm, I didn't start the thread to say they deserved what they recieved. I started the thread to point out that retrospective 'interpretations' of the law are wrong and irresponsible and give the UK's regulatory and fiscal environment a bad reputation; that's bad for business and for everyone.

OH no, sorry wrong thread!

[AtW]

But you seem to have missed my point, I assume intentionally, so wont bother trying to repeat it.

I got you point - that's why we post in this thread and don't get involved in parallel more serious thread: we talk about it in general terms rather than picking up on specific posters in the main BN66 thread saying all sort of things, that indeed would be wrong.

[AtW]

For all of the people that lived in the southern part of the country, evading the customs man was treated as a sport.

It's not the customs issue, it's the taxation issue.

Say I see no issues with people bringing in cheap booze from France - it's their right to shop tax/duty free since EU is a single market: I don't do it personally but have nothing against people who do.

This is a completely different matter however where a small minority was taking the piss and this sort of behavior is certainly causing problems for everyone because HMRC becomes harsher and it won't be just them who'd get it.

I am not even talking here for tax loss that will need to be made up by someone else - £100 mln: I can't remember exact numbers but I think 1% in income tax hike raises something like £2 bln (can be wrong - if someone got more correct figure please post here), so £100 mln is equivalent to 0.05% increase in income tax for the whole country.

[xoggoth]

Never used BN66 and know nowt about it but on retrospective changes generally I would say there is a difference between a few wealthy individuals employing specialised accountants to find ways around paying tax and ordinary individuals relying on advice from bog standard accountants and financial advisors.

It is about time and consent. If it is clear a tax law is being used to avoid tax in a way that is not intended, HMRC should act quickly to prevent the situation continuing. If it does not, then tacit acceptance will be implied and ordinary people who know little about the law will be advised that, in practice, this is what they allow.

This principle of implied consent works in all other areas of the law AFAIK. If your neighbour fences off part of your garden in your full knowledge and you do not do anything about it within a reasonable timescale you will have a job getting it back.