Public prosecutors to target 'dishonest' tax avoidance

[VectraMan]

Pension contributions, ISA's, EIS & VCT investments etc - all approved by the government.

All tax avoidance is approved by the government. Otherwise it would be illegal, and then wouldn't be tax avoidance.

[smatty]

I heard it on the radio too and was left with the impression that in their eyes anyone could be fair game as "dishonest avoidance' may just mean interpreting the rules in a different way to whatever civil servant is looking at your case.

[Waldorf]

So what exactly is honest tax avoidance?

Pension contributions, ISA's, EIS & VCT investments etc - all approved by the government.

Aggressive tax avoidance is the use of arrangements set up for one purpose but exploited by using an artificial arrangement by blood suckers!

Having said that, it is upto the governments to act and close these schemes down, I say they should tackle the providers as the easiest means to close them down.

[VectraMan]

Isn't a dishonest tax avoidance scheme a tax evasion scheme?

Or just plain old fraud.

So what exactly is honest tax avoidance?

[centurian]

Isn't a dishonest tax avoidance scheme a tax evasion scheme?

Yep - pretty much sums it up....

[BrilloPad]

Isn't a dishonest tax avoidance scheme a tax evasion scheme?

They are such weasels - every one of them wants shooting.

[AtW]

Corporate or personal?

Personal most likely, even if it was linked to Ltds - very small number of convictions IMHO.

[northernladuk]

The CPS secured 550 tax evasion convictions in 2011/12.

What does this mean though? I presume it doesn't include people who got caught and stumped up without having to go to court... or does it??? Corporate or personal?

[RasputinDude]

I heard him on the radio this morning. To be fair, he was very clear that there is a difference between evasion and avoidance.

Given that the media and politicians have been blurring that difference a great deal recently, it was refreshing to hear someone in authority actually knowing and being clear about the difference.

Sadly, from there it went downhill.

[BA to the Stars]

"So, big tax avoidance schemes if they are dishonest will be prosecuted."

They could investigate the Westminster Scheme. It has around 650 members and allows all sorts to be claimed tax free

[AtW]

"Ahead of a speech today, Keir Starmer said the economic climate meant it was more important than ever to tackle tax dodgers.

Mr Starmer said a merger of the fraud team at the Crown Prosecution Service and HM Revenue and Customs' prosecutions office meant he now had a bigger team to deal with such cases.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is, of course, always important to prosecute tax evasion but never more so than in this sort of hardship we find ourselves in now.

"There are people really suffering who are paying their taxes.

"I think it is important for a prosecution service to respond to public concern, to be seen to be in tune with what ordinary people think ought to happen and to gain the confidence of people that we are prosecuting good cases properly."

He added: "There's a difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion and we are concerned here with tax evasion, which includes an element of fraud, of dishonesty.

"But that having been said, the heart of the ramping-up is not only the increase in volume that's already been referred to but also a demonstrability to prosecute highly complex dishonest tax avoidance schemes.

"So, big tax avoidance schemes if they are dishonest will be prosecuted."

Mr Starmer said it was a "ramping-up" of the efforts to tackle the problem.

The CPS secured 550 tax evasion convictions in 2011/12.

He added: "The way that tax evasion is dealt with is really a matter for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. They have got a range of powers and abilities.

"What this demonstrates is that the number of cases prosecuted is going to go up. We are talking about a five-fold ramping-up over a four-year period so it is a significant increase intended to make clear that in hard economic times, when law-abiding taxpayers are suffering real hardship, it's important to prosecute these cases."

Public prosecutors to target 'dishonest' tax avoidance - Telegraph