BN66/S58 update

[tomtomagain]

Agreed. But I'm not sure anyone expressed their views on UK government here in that context.

I brought the government into it because the "defence" of a lot of the people who try to justify to me why they should pay a few % ( and I've had this argument several times in the pub with fellow contractors ) is that they believe that the gov. does nothing for them and therefore why should they pay.

The people who hold this view are usually young males who have finally left home and are independent or bitter divorcees.

[AtW]

they believe that the gov. does nothing for them and therefore why should they pay.

It's worse than this here - those guys just basically say - we believe it was legal to pay 3.5% income tax, so bog off.

They are not saying they won't use public services (if they permanently lived offshore then it could have been justified), they still enjoy all the rights and benefits of being allowed to live legally in UK.

The only time 3.5% income tax (or even 0%) would have been justified if those people actually were fully resident offshore, ie - did work from home and invoiced via their local offshore Ltd.

That would be perfectly fine - morally and legally.

[centurian]

I know many who incorporate and make their partners equal shareholders, pay each other £9200 and divvy the rest up, after applying appropriate 'expenses'.

This is legal. Is it tax evasion?

If by "quote expenses quote", you mean fake expenses, like £25 per day for "food allowance" - as I am sure a few contractors have been known to do, then yes, it probably does amount to evasion.

Proving it may be tricky, but that doesn't mean it is legal.

[d000hg]

Ok, so following your logic then programmers should write software without any security holes and it's their fault if they create security holes that hackers can take advantage of to steal money - hackers are therefore completely immune?

Is that really the best you can come up with?

[tomtomagain]

I seem to remember that a number of MP's got sent to jail for fiddling their expenses. And rightly so.

[AtW]

Is that really the best you can come up with?

The best I can do is to focus on my business with aim to double its turnover in next 12 months, and then come back and have a real at tax dodgers who play with fire and get burnt.

In fact that's exactly what I am going to do!

I might post occasionally though

[foolishboy]

Some interesting points of view here.

Looks like the argument comes down to one based on what your moral code is and given that there is no universal moral code, everyone is right and everyone is wrong. It does appear that some folk are taking this far too personally.

[ZARDOZ]

You don't contribute to society by paying money you are legally obliged to.

FFS, you are deluded.

[d000hg]

FFS, you are deluded.

No, I'm just not a hand-wringing socialist who is more concerned with what others are doing than what I am myself doing.

If you're paying yourself dividends to avoid IR35, then as the good book says Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

[ZARDOZ]

No, I'm just not a hand-wringing socialist who is more concerned with what others are doing than what I am myself doing.
[/url]

Jesus was a Socialist