Is our Tax system outdated?

www.theguardian.com/politics/shortcuts/2014/jan/06/osborne-little-george-family-wallpaper-firm
There are various bits on google about it.

To be fair about the losses bit, as far as I am aware, if a company makes losses, they dont pay tax. Well they sort of couldnt anyway without selling the actual business.
I dont know enough about the rest of your post to comment.

Agree with obieone and you would have to be a tax lawyer to know if there was a problem. Easy to jump on the ' Blimey, look at what these awful rich people are doing' bandwagon, without any proof of wrongdoing.

A certain YES to the question. Needs well and truly simplifying.

It's been known about for years. It's deflection from the bigger companies who are not paying their taxes.
It's also the reason that Osborne only pretends to be tough on those who fiddle their taxes.
I asked if anyone used Osborne and Little fabrics or wallpapers on a different thread.

Osborne has actually set up an office for tax simplification, gangy.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2012/03/29/tories-believe-in-tax-simplification-like-heck/

I have often fancied one of their wallpapers Jen but never actually bought any - bit out of the price range!

I can't understand how they can always make losses when they charge so much.
If you look at obieone's link, you will see that even though they make losses, they can pay their directors over a million.
They should have declared themselves bankrupt by now.

The other irony is that it's in the Sunday Times.
I thought they were all friends together. Why is Murdoch anti-Osborne now?

i0.wp.com/voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/160129OsborneGoogleTaxNegotiation.jpg?resize=529%2C749

A comparison of Osborne and Google.

The Independent article says that 335,000 was paid out to shareholders in dividends. Of that amount, George Osborne's parents received £270,000 and GO received £1,230.

The article also states that the company made a £722,200 profit on revenues of £34 million. I'm no expert but that seems to me like a very low profit to revenue ratio. The senior director is reported to be paid £684,000 p.a. No doubt other senior executives are paid similarly generous amounts. Such generosity has perhaps contributed to the losses the company is rolling over.

obieone While I was doing agency work I was employed for some time for a top tax chambers and it opened my eyes to the way in which these very highly paid barristers use their expertise to advise the most convoluted and apparently nonsensical arrangements in order that their clients pay as little tax as possible.

Yes, the tax system needs a total overhaul.

What also needs an overhaul is the fact that top tax advisers come from companies which advise people on how they can pay less tax by going off-shore. Not in a poacher turned gamekeeper way, but in how to have more poachers.

Some might say that. large business is attracted here due to the government and HMRC's leniency in applying the correct rates of tax.

Perhaps large companies, initially, should submit the salaries of their directors, divulge their turnover and gross profit for the tax year and then pay a percentage on those figures!! They could then employ their tax advisers in recouping any costs and outgoings. Most big business should be able to afford this!!

I'm quite often awake during the night and watch the parliamentary committees grilling various organisations. One interesting point I found was when the heads of top accounting firms were being grilled - Deloitte etc. etc. These firms admitted that they employ at least 60 persons, who's sole aim, is to dodge tax on behalf of their clients!!

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/02/16/you-cannot-be-indifferent-on-the-key-question-in-21st-century-political-economy/

Not just tax, Eloethan.
In fact this could be a completely new thread.

They also sit on the government's tax advisory committees, gangy. How did that happen?

That's amazing durhamjen !!!

You can read all about it on the Tax Research site, gangy. Just look down the right hand side at the individual accountancy firms and see how many posts are about their relationships with the chancellor and his mates.

Thanks durhamjen for pointing me towards that site. Have read a lot and found it very revealing. Also learned much new vocabulary - regulatory arbitrage - creative compliance etc. I'm truly 'gob smacked'!!

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ttip-tax-avoidance-corporations-sue-governments-tax-evasion-isds-a6875061.html

This is interesting. If TTIP gets passed, the government could be sued by multinationals for trying to get tax back because it will affect their profits.

The article states it's the agreement between the EU and the US, giving an impression that if we left the EU we would be safe. However, there are more MEPs against TTIP than MPs against it.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/02/22/google-tax-and-me-the-nef-podcast/

A fifteen minute podcast by Richard Murphy about Google taxes and what he would do.
Very informative.