Tax Havens

The board meeting on the papers was held in Switzerland. Cameron senior's normal address was given as in the Bahamas.
Strange. I never knew he lived there. Not that I know him personally, but I cannot remember Cameron ever going on holiday to the Bahamas. His mother lives over the border in Berkshire, and has done for years. I didn't realise they were separated.

"Put up or shut up" surely is evidenced in the papers that were leaked.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/04/05/majority-of-british-public-want-david-cameron-to-act-on-the-tax-havens-poll-shows/

It's not just us that lose out. That's why Oxfam, Christian Aid, and Action Aid are all involved, in getting Cameron to change the rules on tax havens.
They are stealing from poverty stricken countries as well.

www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=3614&qid=2026858

A petition against tax havens.

He lived in the Bahamas ? Wonder why he had to fly from this country for board meetings. What an awful man

HMRC offices are owned by LendLease PFI in Jersey, which was set up in 2010, in November, so after the Tories came to power.

And this is why I don't trust them Jen

"Virgin Care has become a major player in the market for NHS services since it entered the healthcare market in 2010. Over the past five years the company has been awarded contracts worth over £1 billion, with several large contracts in community health.

Virgin Care continues to be highly active in tendering for NHS contracts, despite the company showing no signs of a profit: since 2010 the company has recorded an annual loss of £9 to £10 million. As Virgin Care Ltd makes no profit in the UK, according to its accounts, the company pays no tax in the UK. However, Virgin Care Ltd is a small entity in Richard Branson’s Virgin empire. Virgin Care’s ultimate parent is Virgin Group Holdings registered in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands. The ultimate owners of Virgin Care are trusts registered in the British Virgin Islands where no tax is paid whose beneficiaries are Richard Branson and his family. Questions have been raised over where exactly any of Virgin Care's profits would go and if tax would be paid on profits in the UK."

I know they live there, but it's not right that the profits go to the BVI so are not taxed here. It's legal, but immoral. If Virgin Care is making a loss, why is Branson still taking up contracts in the NHS?

www.nhsforsale.info/private-providers.html

I've only looked at the first two, Virgincare and Care UK. Both put money offshore.
I hope they get caught up in this, along with the others who have impoverished our NHS.

Some figures from the Panama Papers.

panamapapers.icij.org/graphs/

Links to North Korean finance company through BVI, with funds going to nuclear research.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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 !

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.

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?

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.

"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.

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.

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

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

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.