Tax Havens

They did not deny it then. Maybe Private Eye is not seen as important as the Guardian front page.

Read this as well, Annie.

www.private-eye.co.uk/issue-1413/news

Heard that Jen and HMRC have just released a denial , a must read

POGS, surely you can find out about the ICIJ on their website.
It's less secret than Cameron's offshore funds.

Guardian headline - HMRC chief was head of Cameron fund lawyers.
So not just, accountants but lawyers. Very cosy.

By the way, I do hope your next holiday is going to be in the Durham Dales, or at least north of the M62.

But actually, roses, this is a rather serious thread for a reason.

I thought that when I read POGS last post, roses.
I do not think anyone would be satisfied with Cameron's last tax return.
If that was all he did, we'd know he had more to hide.

However, we trust the Scottish ones. I wonder why?

Eloethan my response to djen was meant to be a joke! Eee, I don't know, there seems to be a distinct lack of humour on here some days.

" If only David Cameron had done that in the first place we would have known he had nothing to hide ".

That sums it up.

Who do posters think 'hacked' the data files of law firm Mossack Foseca, going back 4 decades and subsequently gave information to those papers in the Consortium of Investigative Journalists.? The only 3 UK members of the ICIJ I can find out about are the BBC, The Guardian and The Sunday Times.

There has been a lot of finger pointing in the direction of the American Intelligence Services, conspiracy theory or possible?

Excellent, Granny23. It just shows it can be done.
If only Cameron had done that in the first place, we would have known he had nothing to hide.

Nicola Sturgeon has today published HER tax return apparently it only took a couple of minutes to do it.

d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/thesnp/pages/5353/attachments/original/1460296299/NicolaSturgeon_TaxReturn.pdf?1460296299

Footnote: Also announced this weekend that the decision of Scottish Ministers to forego their pay rises since 2009 has resulted in a cumulative sum of £250,000 to date being returned to the Scottish budget.

Not ALL politicians are greedy Bs

www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/hhje?e=4f295de050c123204df7f4a5c79d8428&utm_source=thepeoplesassembly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=volunteers_demo&n=2
That demo is going to be huge next weekend.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2010/08/19/who-did-the-big-4-fund-before-the-general-election/

It's actually the top seven firms, and at the 2010 election. I can't find a list for the last one.

Re my comment at 10.26, Cameron gave his first comment inside PwC offices when he was giving them a speech, so it was reasonable to assume he used them as his accountants.
He played his usual trick of only allowing two questions from the press.

Margaret Hodge, not Patricia Hodge, two completely different MPs.
However, I agree with her that it was wrong. They actually gave to all three major parties; it said so in the article.
However, I also think it is wrong that PwC have people as non execs at HMRC.
Do you think it is right that the person responsible for tax at PwC is now responsible for tax simplification?
Do you not see a conflict of interest there?

The lead non-exec was a senior partner at KPMG, both companies that have offices in Panama.

Do you not see why we mistrust the government on tax affairs?

This deserves to be read.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/03/15/are-kpmg-really-masters-of-the-universe/

www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/labours-biggest-non-union-donation-pwc-firm-accused-promoting-tax-avoidance

Follow on from previous post

Durhamjen

Interesting you have posted a barbed comment in your post at 10.26 today re Price Waterhouse Cooper /PwC and Cameron's finances.

Last year and goodness knows how long for , Price Waterhouse Cooper was the biggest Non Union Donor to the Labour Party. I have put a link up for you, yes I have understood how to do it now, there are so many articles on the subject but I have put a link to the New Statesman for one.

I like some of the comments in particular from Labour MP Patricia Hodge who was Chair of the Public Accounts Committee at the time and which 'slammed ' the PwC/ Labour connection. The committee produced a report accusing the firm of 'the promotion of tax avoidance on an industrial scale'. She comments:-

' Labour MP's such as Ed Balls, Chuka Umuna and Racheal Reeves receiving assistance from the firm is 'inappropriate' .

I am not saying Labour were the only party to receive funding but to use PwC when attacking Cameron reminded me of the Labour connections too.

rosesarered Do you really think that there are no Labour/Green members in areas that you call "leafy and nice". It really is rather snobbish of you to imagine that the left of the political spectrum does not contain people who live in attractive areas and have above average incomes. I have lived in several "leafy and nice" localities and, whilst Labour/Green voters are generally in the minority in such areas, there were certainly thriving Labour groups, with members from all income levels and walks of life.

Accountants, tax barristers and financial experts are hardly neutral bystanders in this matter. Some of those asked to comment may well be the people whose job it is, or was, to facilitate and even devise these arrangements so they are unlikely to say that the companies and individuals using them are doing something wrong/unethical.

Cameron paid tax whrn he sold his off shore shares but what did he make during the years the money was invested 1997 to 2010 and why did he invest money off shore

Just watched it - my sentiments exactly - without the swearing of course!

Did Channel 4 also ask whether they still beat their wives? That used to be standard questioning where the subject was damned if he said yes and damned if he said no.

Reply "Yes I have/had offshore interests" - result, damned for saying yes.

Reply "No, I do not have/have not had offshore interests" - result, damned for telling lies. ("Well, they would say that, wouldn't they?" Mandy Rice-Davies)

Reply "Mind your own business" - result, damned for "refusing to admit it"

No reply at all - result, damned for not giving channel 4 a chance to damn them for any of the other replies.

Chris Coltrane does swear a lot, but it's effective, don't you think?

Eh? Now you're just being ridiculous.