Tax Havens

Don't you just love Boris Johnson - a completely wasted education - he appears to have learned nothing about life - but a jolly decent chap whom "ordinary folk" in London can get along with.

Boris and his ilk are as much of an embarrassment to the UK as the Trump is to "ordinary Americans"

Why would anyone vote for or elect a person to public office with such a track record of bad judgement and imbecillic comments.

Just amazing

The latest gem from Boris Johnson - the tax avoidance issue with David Cameron "absolute tripe" hmm he has form though doesn't he? Remember he described the phone hacking issue as "absolute piffle" Such a bright individual ?

Interested to read what Osborne has not said about the family firm.

So can anyone enlighten me as to how the company has avoided any UK tax for the past 7 years if it isn't off shore? Or is it so badly run - rather like the economy- that it is making a year on year loss?

I like that, Nonnie

too boring to read all the posts but here is a simple explanation:

www.vox.com/2016/4/4/11361780/the-panama-papers-cartoon

I'm fed up with seeing tax avoidance classified as a justifiable activity. There's a huge difference between an ISA and setting up a shell company in the BVI to avoid tax. Both are legal, but ISAs are deliberately tax-free to encourage people to save. Other schemes exploit unintentional loopholes in the law.

Tax avoidance means public services and other individuals are losing out. It's totally unacceptable for the government not to collect as much tax as possible and then lecture people about 'doing the right thing'.

Tax avoidance gives out totally the wrong message to the rest of the cxountry. It seems that all people need to be successful is be a spiv and live on the edge of legality and morality. I was brought up to avoid people like that, but it seems I got it wrong - they're to be revered.

When Cameron senior died, he was said to have £2.75 million in his will. However, it only listed the UK assets. He had financial links with Ireland, Switzerland and Jersey. Why?

annie yes the family company has certainly had dealings with a company based in the BVI.

lily yes I will not be at all surprised to find that a filthy rich Labour Party member is also tax avoiding- no names yet appeared I will list them as soon as they do.

With regard to your comment about evasion and avoidance. Yes one is illegal and the other legal. However it is becoming a bit of an old chestnut as there so many aggressive tax avoidance schemes out there. The principle of paying your fair share is being utterly flouted by the wealthy, and however you try to spin it is generally thought to be morally wrong, particularly when looking at the way the poor have borne the brunt of all the cuts since the Tories came to power.

Chris Bryant was on the Newsnight last night, talking about that, whitewave.

Those who say Labour never did anything to stop it when they were in power should reread history. Of course, another thing is that Blair was the one in power. I wonder how much he has stashed away on which he is not paying tax.

Why was Blairmore holdings moved to Ireland in 2010, and not to the UK?

I think the more transparency there is the better and that people should pay the tax they owe. Nevertheless, there is a difference between tax evasion which is illegal and tax avoidance which is prudent and sensible given that most people pay tax at source through PAYE and that they are often only avoiding paying tax twice through, for example, extra tax on savings, VAT or inheritance.

There is an equal moral imperative for people's tax to be spent prudently and for the purposes which, determined through debate and democratic means, people desire. Too much taxpayers' money has been and continues to be wasted on unnecessary - and often - almost nefarious purposes. Often what one sees is that taxpayers are paying for the knife that stabs them in the back.

Finally, 'whitewave', your list is timely and helpful. It is worth noting, however, that during the MPs' expenses scandal, an equally useful 'outing', the main villains were Labour politicians who were milking the state for all it was worth and, (see middle paragraph) taking taxpayers for fools.

If Cameron's mother received the benefits of her imoral husband in his will and she then leaves her children the money , they are benefitting from their mother not from the tax dodges of their father, it's that easy to lie

George Osbourn has been asked if he has offshore accounts, his reply was how much the government has done to stop tax dodging, so no answer to the question

Tories / Conservative Party

Margaret Thatcher ( ex-PrimeMinister) it was reported that the house that she lived in, in Belgravia London was held in an off- shore account. She moved to a high class hotel for sometime prior to her death (some months, I believe).

Yet we are told that due to Economic situation Social Care etc :- cuts need to be made. The Elderly and other people of Britain deserve a quality of life. Maybe Margaret Thatcher's experience should be used as a Benchmark. Her home saved, her Care needs met, and her funeral paid for.

Maybe an investigation is needed. Immorality is an important ISSUE.

"An estimate of his worth is £3.2 million, though this figure excludes the million-pound legacies Cameron is expected to inherit from both sides of his family."

From Cameron's Wikipaedia page, before he remembers and changes it.

Just reading an interesting article about when Labour was in government. Chris Bryant the overseas territories and dependencies minister had been in a standoff with countries like BVI over trying to force them into greater transparency over their resident off shore companies. He was trying to force them to give up this information by refusing them loans from the UK.

When the Tories gained power all this stopped.

They claim that no government has done more to clamp down on tax evasion, well action speak louder than words and what I will concede is that no government has talked more about stopping tax evasion than this government. No action though.

Interesting, what you say, railman, about undermining our society and communities.

I have just read the responses on a taxresearch blog, which says that two high ranking members of the IMF were talking about staging a Greek event in ordser to destabilise Europe about the same time as the EU referendum.

It's on this link.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/04/06/some-get-it-on-the-panama-papers/

The link is about John McDonnell's article in the Guardian, which I agree with.
Why is Cameron not doing something straight away to stop the tax havens?
Is he waiting until all his mates have rearranged their finances to take all their money out of UK tax havens?

Also can you believe he said on the news last night that he only had his PM salary, his own house which he rents out and a BIT of savings, was he trying to sound normal and as for saying he had NO shares whatsoever, sorry that beggars belief. Can't remember which post said the British Public will just shrug, but they are probably right.

If we wanted to, there lies the problem , the people want to, the government doesn't and as Damien Green said - we would affect jobs there !

"The UK, the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies form one undivided Realm, which is distinct from the other States of which Her Majesty The Queen is monarch. Each Territory has its own Constitution and its own Government and has its own local laws. As a matter of constitutional law the UK Parliament has unlimited power to legislate for the Territories. - "

See more at: www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/04/06/the-uk-can-unambiguously-legislate-for-the-crown-dependencies-and-overseas-territories/#sthash.IdO1UmKd.dpuf

We definitely can intervene to stop them being tax havens if we want to. That was from a foreign office report in 2012.

Yes, he's trying really hard to avoid/evade the real question he was asked, which was have they ever benefited from his father's dealings in the past.
He's talked about the present and the future, but not the past.

I like the fact that his statement yesterday was given at the Birmingham offices of PwC. At least it wasn't their Panama office. I wonder if he had private conversations with their bosses there, away from news reporters.

Maybe we need to start in schools - clearly Cameron and Osborne have had a very poor education - clearly they have never had to work, so have no experience of life in the real world.

Schools and colleges, but perhaps especially uni students should have to read books like "The Spirit Level" and "The Joy of Tax" - and maybe then they will begin to understand the damage that our present arrangements have done to people.

Those people who stash their cash in the BRITISH Virgin Islands, or the Cayman Islands, or in most places where there is the UK Queen's head on their stamps - their overall intent was to hide their income and avoid paying tax.

Using a tax haven is simply a means of cheating the country of benefits - those who engage in it are doing it to deliberately undermine our society and communities.

I think the other interesting thing was his description of his current income, together with his savings would not cover his lifestyle at the moment. Perhaps Samantha's income from Smythson - another registered off shore company - blimey they keep coming don't they - covers all their spending needs.

Interesting too when he talked of his property , only the Notting Hill residence was mentioned, what about Chipping Norton, or does he rent that?

Interesting to read Cameron's answers in relation to any benefit he may be receiving from his deceased fathers will.

I think his answers were very carefully framed but in doing so he has left himself very exposed, and potentially vulnerable. It is clear from his reply that the will made for the off shore company and its accruing benefit to the Cameron family has not been covered. This is what we the tax paying public have a right to know about, and whether indeed anything illegal in the form of tax evasion or simply aggrieved tax avoidance is/was taking place.

It all makes me thoroughly sick to think of the uber rich and the very poor living in this world. What ever happened to human understanding.