Clegg to push for £12.5k income tax threshold at Budget

[VectraMan]

What should happen is that legal definition of "tax evasion" is changed to cover those "tax avoidance" schemes AND those who sell/make them - it's not legal to sell certain things that can help break into peoples homes, why is it legal to sell stuff that deprives state of tax revenues? Start putting in jail makers of those schemes and directors of companies that used them - corp tax now isn't that high in this country, and I ma pretty sure directors of big companies would prefer to pay it rather than end up in jail.

IR35 reviews? Put the PCG in jail?

Watching that "Scandamania" programme on telly last night he was saying how most Danes pay 50% in tax, but they're officially the happiest nation on earth (according to a UN survey). Which makes you wonder. Perhaps the issue is that we all think our public services are a waste of time and money, so resent paying for them, but perhaps if we had much better public services we wouldn't mind much higher taxes? Hmmm.

[DirtyDog]

I might extend that to unmarried cohabiting couples with children as well. Make the system family friendly if you want to support families.

The problem with that is how do you distinguish between a genuine family and a single parent who rents a room out?

Married or civil partnership has the formality to it.

[GazCol]

If they're paying employer's NI and salaries, does it matter too much? In some of the other countries you mentioned, loads of people don't pay tax so if the company pays no tax the government get no money at all. That's not the situation here.

Using Amazon as an example, its UK, workforce, in comparison to its turnover is tiny, and that’s only going to get smaller as they continually automate processes and could eventually become non-existent. I don’t think that argument holds any weight – do you think we’d get away with registering in Ireland or Luxembourg as contractors? No, HMRC would, eventually, come after the scheme and make x amount of hundreds of thousands; whilst Amazon and its ilk owe potentially billions and Hector turns a blind eye. It’s insulting, especially considering that in the number of years since this first made the media Amazon have actually decided they make losses in the UK now, hoping that the issue will just go away whilst further complicating their accounts.

[AtW]

IR35 reviews? Put the PCG in jail?

PCG is ok.

Review of contract is one thing, but creating a scheme that involves deliberate steps whose main purpose is to avoid tax should be treated as tax evasion with all the relevant penalties, example - having money paid to offshore firm that would give loans that are not really loans.

[doodab]

The problem with that is how do you distinguish between a genuine family and a single parent who rents a room out?

Birth certificates.

[VectraMan]

PCG is ok.

Review of contract is one thing, but creating a scheme that involves deliberate steps whose main purpose is to avoid tax should be treated as tax evasion with all the relevant penalties, example - having money paid to offshore firm that would give loans that are not really loans.

If a contract review includes advice to change a contract for no other reason than to avoid tax, how is that different? PCG provide contract templates and specific advice on how to avoid tax, so how is that not deliberate steps?

[DodgyAgent]

PCG is ok.

Review of contract is one thing, but creating a scheme that involves deliberate steps whose main purpose is to avoid tax should be treated as tax evasion with all the relevant penalties, example - having money paid to offshore firm that would give loans that are not really loans.

I am afraid you are confused by this Atw. You clearly have a line in your own mind that determines what is right and what is wrong. I am afraid that unless that line is determined by law your view is meaningless.

[AtW]

If a contract review includes advice to change a contract for no other reason than to avoid tax, how is that different? PCG provide contract templates and specific advice on how to avoid tax, so how is that not deliberate steps?

PCG's main aim isn't creating schemes to avoid taxes, so PCG itself is ok.

Contract templates they do are also ok in my view as having contract to comply with the law is not the same as creating artificial structures to avoid tax en masse - PCG does not get contracts that cut down tax to 0% in exchange for 10% of the money - which is typical for "scheme providers".

[DirtyDog]

Birth certificates.

You don't have to declare the father on a birth certificate. And then you run into the complexity of being a family unit but the current partner may not be the father of any / all of the children.

[AtW]

I am afraid you are confused by this Atw. You clearly have a line in your own mind that determines what is right and what is wrong. I am afraid that unless that line is determined by law your view is meaningless.

The line can be easily determined by the law as max amount of "avoided" tax that becomes treated as evasion - say if HMRC wins in court over £ Xk of "avoided" tax then it gets treated as criminal tax evasion. Very nice clear line that would be.