• Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
  • Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!

HMRC Double Standards

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    HMRC Double Standards

    HMRC chief was partner at law firm that acted for Cameron offshore fund | Politics | The Guardian

    #2
    Nasty little turds

    HMRC that is.

    Comment


      #3
      Perhaps I am missing something. Troup was at a law firm that might be involved in tax evasion.

      Doesn't that make him perfect for HMRC to close the loopholes?

      I have many issues with HMRC - but this sounds like a good move?

      Comment


        #4
        Why is this double standards? There's nothing intrinsically wrong with having offshore funds. The guy had a job managing those, now has moved to another job where he's responsible for making sure offshore funds aren't being used for dodging tax. Sounds ideal - poacher turned gamekeeper and all that.

        Perhaps people would prefer to have a chief of HMRC who knows nothing about tax dodging?

        Of course politically it looks bad, especially with his connection to the Cameron family - hence the political capital being spun, and an article of shock horror in a left wing newspaper.
        Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by NotAllThere View Post
          Why is this double standards? There's nothing intrinsically wrong with having offshore funds. The guy had a job managing those, now has moved to another job where he's responsible for making sure offshore funds aren't being used for dodging tax. Sounds ideal - poacher turned gamekeeper and all that.

          Perhaps people would prefer to have a chief of HMRC who knows nothing about tax dodging?

          Of course politically it looks bad, especially with his connection to the Cameron family - hence the political capital being spun, and an article of shock horror in a left wing newspaper.
          Does it matter if it is in a "left wing" paper?

          My concern is that this story will let the tax evaders off. And the individual tax evasion is not as important as the multi-nationals who have an unfair advantage over UK companies.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by BrilloPad View Post
            Does it matter if it is in a "left wing" paper?
            Yes. The newspaper has a target readership and will tend to write according to their preferences and prejudices. Any chance to knock the Tories must be taken. Therefore a report that portrays the government in a negative light from the Guardian carries less weight than if it was being published by a traditionally right wing paper.

            In the same way, articles traducing Corbyn in the Telegraph carry less weight than one in the Guardian would. The political leanings of the paper are very relevant to how a political story is portrayed. Journalism is not neutral. Newspapers and journalists have their own agendas, and in their own right can be quite powerful - hence they are the "fourth estate", the other estates being the clergy, nobility and the commoners.

            If you read the story to the end, it seems to be a non-story - just guilt by association. I think the story is entirely politically motivated and has no real substance.

            I am not a fan of HMRC.
            Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

            Comment


              #7
              There's nothing wrong with "offshore". After all the free movement of capital means most of the the companies you invest in are "offshore". Siemens is a German company so when you invest in Siemens you invest in an offshore company.

              A lot of Unit Trusts and funds are offshore and they're quoted on the stock market, you just simply buy them. Any dividends are declared and taxed in the UK. It's the funds themselves that avoid tax not the investors.

              If you outlaw foreign companies and funds from being quoted on the stock exchange and outlaw people investing in foreign companies, funds or transferring money to foreign bank accounts, then basically you have a completed isolated economy. Not sure how this would work.
              I'm alright Jack

              Comment


                #8
                I think my views on HMRC are well known here. I'm not a fan of the organisation but have some sympathy for the individual employees.

                I fear however that Mr Troup, regardless of his past, is a Civil Servant's Civil Servant. He is there to ensure that the direction of the agency stays on course and does not deviate. In the present environment that is not good. The fact that he used to be a tax lawyer about a zillion years ago means nothing. To climb the slippery civil service pole, all the factors making him a successful tax lawyer have long been buried.

                In terms of newspapers spinning a non story into a story, did we really expect anything else?

                Having money offshore is not a crime, tax or otherwise. Provided it is done legally and declarations made, it should not be an issue.

                Compare that to "legal" and "compliant" contractor schemes though that are apparently a problem?

                SO now we have the nonsense of politicans publishing their tax returns - so what?

                In the US, anybody running for public office has had to do this for years.

                SO we know that a boy from a wealthy family may have had money from his family that may have partly been sourced from an offshore, non taxable fund. So what? Cameron will not be the only MP in this situation.

                Compared to many politicians we read about from other countries (who we continue to trade with) our MP's are paragons of virtue.

                This is all a storm in a teacup and just a distraction from more weighty political issues.

                Perhaps a better question is as follows:

                Most people seeking tax havens, tend to be wealthy (very) and tend to want to control very closely the parts of the scheme. For UK taxpayers, that means (usually) going to an English speaking tax haven. Why then go to a tax haven where the first language is Spanish? What features does that haven have which say BVI/Jersey/IOM does not? Is it the fact that money/assets can be sent to such a territory without bothersome questions about source? Can money be sent out of such a haven now washed whiter than white?

                In the case of Cameron, I understand that the fund in question was set up and managed in Bermuda (English speaking) but the funds were in Panama?

                To the best of my knowledge, Bermuda companies can buy/sell dollar denominated shares (apparently the reason the fund was established) so why bother with the additional cost, cultural issues, language issues of bolting on a Panama outfit?

                Perhaps nothing to do with tax, more about source and destination of funds?

                Just speculating.
                Best Forum Adviser & Forum Personality of the Year 2018.

                (No, me neither).

                Comment


                  #9
                  Plenty of on shore tax evaders around as well, my decorator has just offered to knock 10% off for cash

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by SlipTheJab View Post
                    Plenty of on shore tax evaders around as well, my decorator has just offered to knock 10% off for cash
                    Shame on you - David Gauke says that is "morally wrong".
                    Join Big Group - don't let them get away with it
                    http://www.wttbiggroup.co.uk/

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X