Oh dear: "International business is like a flock of birds"

[AtW]

Gordon doesn't know what this is.

Gordon knows it very well, that's why he keeps "higher rate" of tax the same, but push more people into it and get most of tax from indirect taxes like fuel duty, VAT etc: house price bubble allows people to borrow lots more, so effectively Gordon pushed debt off his own books, so it all looks okayish.

[wendigo100]

Gordon knows it very well, that's why he keeps "higher rate" of tax the same, but push more people into it and get most of tax from indirect taxes like fuel duty, VAT etc: house price bubble allows people to borrow lots more, so effectively Gordon pushed debt off his own books, so it all looks okayish.

That's irrelevant to the graph. Ask the CBI.

[Numptycorner]

Gordon doesn't know what this is.



Every generation we get a bunch of socialists who think they can make it work, and every generation we have to clear up after them.

I blame them for the ERM, black wednesday and 15% interest rates. Those were the days when your house was worth less than your mortgage. Halcyon days!

[darmstadt]

I've already moved abroad but that was due to Thatcher. Doing well out English companies at the moment though.

[BobTheCrate]

A good and welcome article that.

For nearly 2 years now Gordon Brown & the bouncers at the Treasury have been whinging on and on about tax avoidance based on 'their own' estimates. Estimates based heavily on the fact that tax receipts keep falling. Despite their cocooned belief that the economy is healthy.

Numpty's graph illustrates Brownstuff's problem. The more he taxes the less he'll end up with. And the cocooned dickhead hasn't a clue why ... other than his stupid assumption it is tax avoidance responsible.

[hyperD]

I always imagine Gordon Brown to be Darth Vader, the Inland Revenue the Storm Troopers and the Contractors as Princess Leia (well Milan anyway):

GB: Darth Vader
Blair: The Emperor
Hewitt: Tarkin

Contractor: Governor Hewitt, I should've expected to find you holding Brown's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.

Hewitt: Charming to the last. You don't know how hard I found it signing the order to legislate IR35.

Contractor: I'm surprised to find you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself.

Hewitt: Before you are taxed to death, I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make IR35 operational. No contractor will dare oppose Emporer Blair now.

Contractor: The more you tighten your grip, Hewitt, the more contractors will slip through your fingers.



And that's really the problem. Brown fails to grasp that the tighter he squeezes and the more bureaucracy he adds, the more people will look for ways not to pay tax.

Woah...déjà vu...

[partimer]

the point

You all seem to have missed the point.
They are now equating tax avoidance and tax evasion as one and the same. That is a very worrying thought and nobody is raising any concerns.

What you notice is that unless you're handing over 90 percent of your income to the taxman then it's "not fair". Why attack the small guy when somebody like Phil Green declares millions in dividend and pays no tax as his Mrs isn't resident in the UK (I'm sure they must have a joint account - s660a attack ?). We're structuring our affairs the same way.

You need to donate/loan Liebore a million quid to get IR35 revoked. Any other new laws require trips to your ranch, holiday island, cowboy suit, etc.

[wendigo100]

Numpty's graph illustrates Brownstuff's problem. The more he taxes the less he'll end up with.

Oy. That's my graph. Give it back.

It is a Laffer curve, which implies that there is an optimum level of tax.

[expat]

Oy. That's my graph. Give it back.

It is a Laffer curve, which implies that there is an optimum level of tax.

And it is worth pointing out that Laffer curves exist only in the imagination of those who wish to persuade the government that it's a good idea to reduce tax rates. They are not graphs of actual measurements, simply visual aids to a certain hypothesis. That is to say, their premise may be false.

[bobhope]

My view on avoidance / evasion has definitely shifted. When IR35 first came out and a few people I knew signed up for the whole EBT thing, I thought "what's the point, you may as well pay the tax." These days, I think it's our moral obligation to avoid paying any tax. The government has lost any moral authority.