Haves and have nots - Lorraine Kelly

I go by the adage 'if you've got it, flaunt it.
Seriously, it was a tongue-in-cheek remark but I am very very solvent thanks to my dear ex and my own judicious investments.

GG a) you have no idea and b) if you are why is that something to flaunt?

...and I don't believe in spirits either.

That's probably why I'm richer than you are maryeliza54 ????????

Speak for yourself GG when I became self employed I deliberately followed the spirit of the tax legislation and did not form a company. I paid more tax than I legally needed to but didn’t feel it was right ( and still don’t) that sole traders ( in the parlance) like me should be able to form companies and pay ourselves through dividends and thus avoid paying our fair share of tax.

ISAs were introduced to encourage people to save, and I have read many reports that say they are not a particularly good deal. I really don't understand how anyone can compare having an ISA to cases such as that of Lorraine Kelly.

Presumably this has set a precedent. Does that mean that many more people doing her sort of job will now be instructing tax barristers in order to reduce their tax bill on the same basis?

Lumarei If the people you speak about only work part time hours then they only get part time pay. I can't see why that is an issue - they may well do this to fit in with other domestic responsibilities.

I notice that you refer to "champagne socialists" - the common tactic used to try and discredit an opinion which is perceived to be "socialist". There are many shades of political opinion on Gransnet but I think the vast majority of people, many of whom will have been taxed on their income without the benefit of get-out clauses, really object to this particular tax ruling.

Many many years ago, I incorporated myself (s corporation) No, dear readers, it wasn't at all painful.
The accountant (I hesitate to use the term my accountant, lest you think I'm acting above my station) recommended that I take this course as it would mean that I could offset a number of outlays and benefit from the many advantages.
No-one wants to pay more than the minimum necessary.

If the likes of us peasants underpay tax, we are swiftly dealt with.

I don't understand how being decent and/or kind and caring about others has somehow been branded " virtue signaling"

Sorry not to have come back before now - it's been a busy few days.

Firstly I should say that I have no axe to grind with LK personally as although I know who she is, I have never watched her on TV to form an opinion about her. Secondly, my post was about the unfairness of the current tax system. It's the inequality that I find upsetting - and that's down to the governments that allow it rather than the individuals who take advantage. I just think that the same rules should apply to every person and to every company fairly. There must be thousands of small businesses in this country who really struggle to make tax payments, yet we read of big corporations paying peanuts in tax - and I'm pretty sure that if you or I tried to 'brand' ourselves as a way of reducing the tax we owed we'd be (quite rightly) penalised.

At the risk of being accused of 'virtue signalling' (how I hate that phrase), I'll tell you a story to indicate that I put my money where my mouth is:

Many, many years ago when my husband was at uni, he and I worked as a waiter/waitress. (I had a day job at the same time.) The jobs we did were all ad hoc 'banqueting' jobs, cash in hand, paid at the end of the night by different 'employers' - and we could never be absolutely sure whether the tax had already been deducted or not. We scrupulously kept notes of each job and the amount we were paid and at the end of the tax year sent the information to the tax office and asked them to work out whether we owed them money or not. As it happened the poor man nearly had a meltdown at the prospect of working it all out, but finally decided that the amount we had paid was sufficient.

Esmerelda what on earth do you mean by saying that most of the posters on here can be considered trolls? Lumarei what’s wrong with deciding not to work a 5th day if it would take you into the higher rate of tax? The issue on this thread is fundamentally the fairness or otherwise of our taxation system. If you earn well and therefore decide to work less, as long as you are paying your due tax, then that’s your choice. I know it’s not a choice open to everyone but there’s nothing wrong with it as a choice per se. I agree that the balance between income tax and all other taxes ( most of which are regressive) has shifted far too much towards the latter.

Champaign
Champagne

I don’t think the HMRC has ever refused anybody who wants to pay more taxes. Please feel free to pay 50+% all of you in favour of higher tades.

I know a lovely caring Champaign socialist who dropped down to working only 4 days per week because a pay rise lifted him into a higher tax bracket. Why work a 5th day if the net income is not worth the effort and stress. Somehow telling him he owes it to society does not seem to cut it. His wife a GP also only works 2 days.
There is s surprise.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Ohmother, I haven’t done any such thing. I have not judged anyone individually.

I dislike mob culture and
want to point to rather unpleasant PERSONAL attacks (accent, giggle, fake etc) on an individual so common nowadays on social media platforms where people can hide in anonymity.

I understand your point, pamhill and have seen this logic applied by people I know. It is all perfectly legal but morally disturbing.
We know people who have set up their own businesses (consultancy in the main), earned amounts outside the comprehension of many people - yet paid very little tax and NI, probably a third of what someone on the same income who was PAYE would pay through paying themselves minimum 'wages' and dividends. They then expect the same public services to be available to them!

Lorraine Kelly is not alone in this, didn't all the overpaid BBC employees go down this route too?

We need a fairer system of tax that closes all these loopholes.

True pamhill

Guess Ill be the lone voice for LK's position but here goes. The court ruled that she was self employed and NOT an employee of ITV as HMRC maintained, as she received no sick pay, holiday pay or perks of an employee. She pays tax on a self employed basis so is NOT avoiding paying her due tax on what she earns. If I was self employed and the tax man wanted me to pay even more tax than I was legally bound to pay then I would go to any means to argue it, so I think its really unfair that her "celebrity" status means that people are trying to treat her position differently from what you or I would do with our own situation. Shes not avoiding paying her due tax, simply following the rules as we all do. Why should she pay tax twice on her earnings? I wouldn't! Would you?

gillybob you are certainly right in that we have lots of hidden taxes but I still think we're not paying enough overall.

ISAs are for fools. The returns are risible.

Her accent gets on my nerves.

I don't know this woman, but agree with ga's post. What a waste of the court's time just to inflate an already large salary (and ego I expect).

Most of the vehicle license money does not get spent on the roads either gillybob! Where does it go? The roads are becoming increasingly worse and worse.

If all these over-paid celebs paid their fair dues, along with companies that manage to pay little including the likes of the odious Green and wife, then we would have better services. Perhaps then we would be happy to pay slightly more ourselves - I prefer a system of higher income tax and less in hidden taxes such as high VAT, insurance tax, tax on essential household fuel.

Just the sound of her voice has me grabbing the remote.

Can't stand her.

I think many of us pay enough tax already NotSpaghetti and if everyone paid their fair share( are you listening LK?) then there would be more money in the pot to go around. Let’s not forget tax is not just PAYE/ income tax it’s the VAT we pay on almost everything, road fund tax, insurance tax, council tax, stamp duties and crikey knows how many more.

I have never been keen on her. I find her so false and as nannypiano has said that stupid giggle is so annoying!
Well she's shown her true colours now, eh?