Paradise Papers

See my previous post, gillybob. You're all mithering on about the Queen and completely ignoring the real dangers which the uber wealthy pose to our country and our democracy.

Bloody disgraceful, But that’s the rich for you.
My husband gets a small private pension but because it takes him over the threshold of his state pension only by a few pounds he has to pay tax.
Leave the Queen alone.

I am not completely ignoring any of "the real dangers" MazieD I am merely pointing out my disgust in the queen's dodgy/questionable dealings.

Why leave the queen alone Sheilasue ?

I don't get that. Is she beyond reproach?

Just don't get this either- why oh why 'leave the Queen alone'. She shoud act as the best exemple to her people- as she does in all other ways. It is just not goood enough, I'm afraid to say 'oh I didn't know, I leave it to my advisors and accountants and close a blind eye'.

The Queen pays UK tax on ALL her investments. She doesn't HAVE to pay tax at all but opted to many years ago.
So having a pop at the Queen is just a little unfair.

The Queen is avoiding tax - money n a company in Cayman avoids tax -

I have just heard on the BBC news Theresa May saying that everyone needs to pay the tax that is due. This has really annoyed me and I plan to contact our Tory MP. These super-wealthy greedy folk have the money to pay accountants like PWC, Deloitte etc who are well able to find "legal" ways of reducing their tax liability - there is a huge difference between the tax that is legally due and the tax that is morally and ethically due and I am naive enough to think that those in our government making rules that affect all of us, and others in positions of power, should do what is morally right and ethical. Stupid aren't I?

Leave the Queen alone because there are far more sinister and important aspects to this topic. People are using their wealth to try to run this country in a way that is most advantageous to them and which is not advantageous to the rest of us. This is not democratic.

If you want to complain about the Queen 'Chat' would be a better place for it but far be it from me to police these threads

I agree with you Maizie - but that does not mean the Queen should be 'left alone' - far too easy for anyone to say 'I trust my accountants, nought to do with me'. Why 'chat' - does noot make sense it all. This definitely to do with 'news and politics'.

As I understand it (and I could be wrong) the Queen declares all the interest she receives, including that received from abroad, and pays tax on it

As for Mrs May's husband ...

Jura - ‘Mr May’ is well into the organisations whose untrained employees earn a pittance mismanaging detention centres and prisons.

Yes, sunseeker, this is what I understand. The Queen has paid tax since 1993.

^ I’m not at all surprised at the convoluted dealings in football club management but somehow expected better from Lord Whatshisname and Her Madge. ^
Well, I don't think HM may have been aware of it (although she is very astute) and they did report that she had paid the correct amount of personal income tax on the revenue from the Duchy - so what is happening.

However, Ashcroft is not at all unexpected - only imo of course.

Yes, mareliza, the rich get richer and a peerage!

sorry, maryeliza!

The Queen had apparently invested c£3000 in Bright House so I really don't think she knew about it.

I am not so sure that many of those in the programme know where there money is either. I used to work for the CEO of the European division of a worldwide company. He didn't know where his money was, he paid KPMG to sort out all those things for him. They even told him how many days he had left to spend in the UK to avoid being a resident for tax purposes.

If I invest my savings in a fund I won't know exactly where my money is going, I will leave it to the fund manager to sort that out to my advantage.

I don't think the programme showed that anyone did anything illegal but the way they portrayed it implied that they did. I do think that it is immoral to avoid paying tax altogether but I don't think people should be taxed on the same money twice, once in the UK and once where the money is spent.

Surely the answer is to make what is deemed immoral illegal and then the tax would be paid? This is just the same old story which crops up every few years and makes me wonder why the law hasn't changed. Is it because it needs international cooperation to make it work?

Ignorance is no defence in law. This will apply to all who say they left it to their accountants.

But ask if these “loans” are being relayed with interest? Of course they aren’t. HMRC needs to get their act together.

If what they are doing is not illegal, it seems somewhat questionable that this is big news. However, if we don't like that this is legal, we need to push to change the tax law. We can do this without naming and shaming. I can't imagine many people who wouldn't like to minimise their tax bill if they could do it legally.

I'm not so sure about that icanhandthemback paying tax should not be seen as a burden, we should be pleased to know that we are contributing to our country, not try to take money away from it.
I believe J K Rowling pays all her taxes.

Making tax avoidance illegal is exactly what the EU has done - and the whole Brexit debacle is based on avoiding getting caught on avoidance ...

Good point, Jura.
Re. the Queen. She might not know the minutiae of her investments but with all the furore that has surrounded such offshore investments in recent months, she could have laid down some ethical principles for her brokers to follow. There are plenty of ethical and laudable ways to invest money rather than the rich pickings from the funds in question provide.

IMO Tax avoidance is simply tax evasion for those who can afford to do it and afford to employ a solicitor to justify what they are doing and avoid the penalties for not paying tax.
It's only not illegal because those who do it have greater sway over what is allowed and what isn't.
Would you do it if you had the money or the knowledge?

If tax avoidance isn't illegal that's surely the government's fault. I can't hand-on-heart say I wouldn't jump at the chance to pay less tax (although I don't imagine this will ever be something I'll need to seriously consider), Sorry, sure I'm letting you all down with this view.