4 December - National Day Of Action Against Tax Avoiders

[Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

http://anticuts.org.uk/?p=679

A good excuse to dob in your landlord? Perhaps a protest outside an organisation representing letting agents or landlords?

Whatever you think about the anticuts people, this might be the perfect opportunity to focus attention on landlords. Get a mass dob in going.

Edited November 13, 2010 by gruffydd

[Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

Ratcheting up the pressure - also notice the unions are trying to pull the students into their protests as they were impressed by the turnout the other day.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/12/tuc-joins-student-protests

Edited November 13, 2010 by gruffydd

[Authoritarian]

My mum used to avoid tax. As a single parent she was in receipt of benefits and for a year or two took on a couple of cleaning jobs to make ends meet.

Perhaps these working class heros should come over and throw bricks through her windows.

[Number79]

Odd isn't it? How the most unlikely group have been turned by the system to police their peers.

[Cinzano Bianco]

My mum used to avoid tax. As a single parent she was in receipt of benefits and for a year or two took on a couple of cleaning jobs to make ends meet.

Perhaps these working class heros should come over and throw bricks through her windows.

+1

“We’ve been a bit quiet. But we’ve been plotting. On Saturday December 4th there will be a day of national mass direct action against tax avoiders. Watch this space. More details soon.”

How about mass direct action against the tax takers? I keep thinking about going contracting in an attempt to make myself more "tax efficient".

Edited November 13, 2010 by the.ciscokid

[@contradevian]

Curiously Private Eye were reporting that demonstrators had managed to close a number of Vodafone stores, protesting about Vodafone being let off a huge tax bill.

Something else that never got reported by the MSM. Fancy that!

[Bear Monger]

I can never understand these posts about grassing up landlords for not paying tax. Yes, BTL is a clear problem but treating the symptoms doesn't cure the disease. Government is a much bigger problem - it is their policies after all that created the BTL craze. Who in their right mind would want to give the government more money than they already get to waste on non jobs and more crazy policies?

Every penny they are denied is a penny more that can be spent in the private sector.

Edit for emphasis.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Bear Monger

[Authoritarian]

I can never understand these posts about grassing up landlords for not paying tax. Yes, BTL is a clear problem but treating the symptoms doesn't cure the disease. Government is a much bigger problem - it is their policies after all that created the BTL craze. Who in their right mind would want to give the government more money than they already get to waste on non jobs and more crazy policies?

Every penny they are denied is a penny more that can be spent in the private sector.

Their heart is in the right place it's just a pity their brain isn't.

The anti-cuts team believe that if we centralise more the result will be an equitable society. This flies in the face of the past 300 years of history, they havn't twigged that the rich are rich (by and large) because the state protects their interests. More gov't adds to the inequality and renders the individual powerless to change his or her lot.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Chef

[Buccaneer]

Without wishing to be pedantic there is nothing wrong either ethically or legally with tax avoidance. Any sane person will seek to minmise their tax liability within the rules of the system.

It is tax evasion that is illegal and wrong.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Buccaneer

[Number79]

Without wishing to be pedantic there is nothing wrong either ethically or legally with tax avoidance. Any sane person will seek to minmise their tax liability within the rules of the system.

It is tax evasion that is illegal and wrong.

whats the difference between avoiding and evading it?

I think we would all wish to both avoid and evade it. Evading paying the state more is not wrong. Grassing up BTL'ers and others that may cheat on their taxes is being a bit stasi'ish. The pennies that individuals avoid paying are a drop in the ocean of big business and the ruling class.

[yellerkat]

whats the difference between avoiding and evading it?

You avoid tobacco tax by not smoking.

You evade tobacco tax by smuggling.

[davedavies]

Their heart is in the right place it's just a pity their brain isn't.

The anti-cuts team believe that if we centralise more the result will be an equitable society. This flies in the face of the past 300 years of history, they havn't twigged that the rich are rich (by and large) because the state protects their interests. More gov't adds to the inequality and renders the individual powerless to change his or her lot.

It was the rich "protesting" in London. Look at the fun they were having. Even when they invaded that building, they were "dancing" like idiots. If they were truly angry they wouldn;t have done that.

The anger will come later. The anger will mean the Baby Boomers will not get their pensions.

[Number79]

You avoid tobacco tax by not smoking.

You evade tobacco tax by smuggling.

so you avoid not paying a lot of tax by not working?

[Cinzano Bianco]

so you avoid not paying a lot of tax by not working?

I would modify it to read:

You avoid tobacco tax by not smoking buying your tax free quota from a non-EU country, or buying in another country (for personal consumption only) and bringing them through customs.

You evade tobacco tax by smuggling.

A tad more long winded than yellerkat though .

[or in excess of]

whats the difference between avoiding and evading it?

I think we would all wish to both avoid and evade it. Evading paying the state more is not wrong. Grassing up BTL'ers and others that may cheat on their taxes is being a bit stasi'ish. The pennies that individuals avoid paying are a drop in the ocean of big business and the ruling class.

As the old joke goes, "Whats the difference between tax evasion, and tax avoidance?". Answer, about 7 years.

[RufflesTheGuineaPig]

The anger will mean the Baby Boomers will not get their pensions.

I can assure you they will. Those under 50 who THINK they have a pension wont, as their pension money will be taken to pay the boomers.

Ultimately, the young will be walked into forced labour camps before the boomers loose their pensions.

[@contradevian]

Ultimately, the young will be walked into forced labour camps before the boomers loose their pensions.

Or we could just get the corporations like Vodafone, to actually pay some tax?

[porca misèria]

Where does this story about Vodafone and tax come from?

Is it that the court found in their favour about losses back in 2001 being tax-deductible, so they were able to book an overdue tax credit against it? Or some other story?

[jackalope]

Where does this story about Vodafone and tax come from?

When Vodafone bought Mannesmann they borrowed the money through a Luxembourgois subisidiary and hence some of the interest payments (from Germany) ended up there. HMRC thought this was a UK tax liability for Vodafone and unsurprisingly Vodafone disagreed and there were several court cases but no conclusive resolution. HMRC and Vodafone eventually did a deal where Vodafone paid about 1.5bn quid. Various people think the liability should have been closer to 6bn and HMRC just didn't try hard enough to get that extra 4.5bn.

[LJAR]

What is right and good about paying tax?

It isn't like everything gets spent on projects of unparalleled use and benefit to all and sundry is it?

Why should I pay more than I have to for anything? I shop around in the supermarket, and online when buying presents for people, why not shop around for the right tax rate?

If you want to collect more tax, make the system simple and the rates lower. (every time they did that with higher rate income tax the take went UP)

[the shaping machine]

whats the difference between avoiding and evading it?

The other day I did some fine avoidance by driving within the speed limit. I must therefore be a evil capitalist right-winger.

Or maybe I'm just behaving the way the law was designed to make me behave?

.

[erranta]

I can never understand these posts about grassing up landlords for not paying tax. Yes, BTL is a clear problem but treating the symptoms doesn't cure the disease. Government is a much bigger problem - it is their policies after all that created the BTL craze. Who in their right mind would want to give the government more money than they already get to waste on non jobs and more crazy policies?

Every penny they are denied is a penny more that can be spent in the private sector.

Edit for emphasis.

They are also the ones who pass the bent laws letting Big Businesses, Billionaires and Millionaires get away with paying little or no taxes! They should be vilified for being non patriotic and parasitical by the general UK population.

Many are aware now after the high profile Pea 'Green' debacle!

The new campaign against greedy corporates taking advantage (outsourcing UK jobs etc) =

OTT

On The Take: Over The Top!

Edited November 14, 2010 by erranta

[the shaping machine]

They are also the ones who pass the bent laws letting Big Businesses, Billionaires and Millionaires get away with paying little or no taxes! They should be vilified for being non patriotic and parasitical by the general UK population.

Even if true, "Big Businesses, Billionaires and Millionaires" aren't using all that extra cash to buy gold to hide in their back gardens. They are presumably spending it on useful (to them) stuff. Better that than the government having it all.

.

[erranta]

Even if true, "Big Businesses, Billionaires and Millionaires" aren't using all that extra cash to buy gold to hide in their back gardens. They are presumably spending it on useful (to them) stuff. Better that than the government having it all.

.

You don't get it do you?

The wealth is stashed away and hoarded or sunk into land etc into fewer hands instead of being distributed more fairly, which then gets spent back into the economy keeping jobs going shops/factories open, tax revenues to pay for schools, NHS etc.

After the land grabs/clearances by the privileged elite scum, land prices didn't go up for a 120 years coz there was no one left with enough lolly to buy any!

That's exactly where they are heading now with their latest wealth grab - stalemate!

Edited November 14, 2010 by erranta

[libspero]

I think we would all wish to both avoid and evade it. Evading paying the state more is not wrong. Grassing up BTL'ers and others that may cheat on their taxes is being a bit stasi'ish. The pennies that individuals avoid paying are a drop in the ocean of big business and the ruling class.

The difference is that we all, equally, have the ability to avoid tax as the same rules apply to everyone.

By evading tax you are refusing to follow the same rules that everyone else has to follow. It is illegally appointing yourself special tax treatment compared to the rest of society.

You might well think the rules are wrong or that you are a special case, but then the right course of action would be to petition for a change in the law, not to disobey it. Especially when the result of your action directly effects others around you (who end up shouldering your tax burden).