Just another media story; not the one the media wants (Evasion) but perfectly legal and sensible. Any sensible person pays as little tax as legally possible. But righteous indignation is the prime ingredient in media. I remember telling Kelvin McKenzie, the Sun editor, that when I had nothing to write one week I always relied on Righteous Indignation to fill the gap. "It's disgusting - rich people not paying as much tax as they should!". If you can deduct taxis as expenses; deduct taxis. If you can legally invest capital in ground nuts in Kenya - do so (if you're mad). It's your money. You earned it.

The funny thing is, hardly anybody will vote for a party who wants to raise their tax for the greater good, yet they are indignant about others who avoid paying more than they need to.

can't agree.

if the waged tax payer could do the same I would agree.

But we have to wait and see whether it involves evasion and I reckon it will.

There are some subjects we shall never agree on - Hedda and the Royals; ITK on Tories and refugees and paralympics; Spee and budgets; Andrew and the BBC - thank God for different opinions!

Offshore companies - David Frost and I - both became rather wealthy in the early 70s - set up companies to avoid huge taxes - totally legal but a pain in the arse; meant my mother and I had to fly to Amsterdam (actually Soest) in Holland every few months to sign company structure documents which we could not sign in the UK. Saved millions in taxes until... the Government brought in Retrogressive Legislation which made it all invalid and we both had to pay millions to Customs and Excise. I vowed never to bother with a tax scheme again. One benefit - the recent "films" idea that many celebrities went for; I refused, despite accountants urging me to join. Recently that collapsed. Mind you, my cunning plan (to build up capital legally and then live on the income as pension) got screwed by the 2008 fiasco. You cannot win.

tax havens have made the idea of becoming a tax exile redundant.

As always politicians have been useless or complicit..huge corporations like Apple (can't stand their products)Google, Vodafone etc etc make billions in profits in countries like the UK & USA and artificially funnel it through Ireland, the Caymans on dodgy claims interest is owed.

These loopholes should and could have been axed 20 years ago.

There aren't "different opinions" on this-unless you mean this- it's like saying you think robbing a bank is liberating money and I say it's theft.

The real problem here is that tax minimization is like playing the stock market or artificial markets like housing...everyone wants to profit but not be there when the bubble bursts like the Great Depression.

I wish people would learn some bloody history..this is no different except the collapse would dwarf the 20s, Because of that Depression the USA put in tough controls that helped build real wealth and helped grow the Middle Class.

Honey is talking claptrap...any party that says they will crack down on Tax Rorts and minimization will be swept into power..for God's sake these dodgy practices apply to tens of 1000s...you don't think the other 60 Million want a crack at them?

I'm not saying it's right Hedda - and I agree that laws should be changed to make taxes more fair; I remain opposed to retrogressive legislation which is, in effect, what this media storm is trying to do. But future changes are not just allowed but encouraged. Where to draw the line is, surely, simple. A country does not want to take so much tax as to push companies and individuals into other residency. They want to give sufficient reasons for it to be beneficial for those creating wealth to decide to live here. But they also want to get enough in taxes to fund essential services. It is a simple balance. But howling about "unfair" like Kevin the Terrible Teenager is childish and gets nobody anywhere. In this age of the Internet, where much profits can be made wherever is most lucrative for companies to be based to avoid (not evade) taxes, it is easy for a firm to say "hey; let's base in Luxembourg". No surprise that the big earners are now Apple and Google and no longer (as in my youth) the oil firms. Bright new King in Saudi Arabia has spotted this. Which is another reason why Brexit is such a stupid policy. Like Kevin "we want our country back" is empty, superficial, slogan thinking.

hedda wrote:
tax havens have made the idea of becoming a tax exile redundant.

As always politicians have been useless or complicit..huge corporations like Apple (can't stand their products)Google, Vodafone etc etc make billions in profits in countries like the UK & USA and artificially funnel it through Ireland, the Caymans on dodgy claims interest is owed.

These loopholes should and could have been axed 20 years ago.

There aren't "different opinions" on this-unless you mean this- it's like saying you think robbing a bank is liberating money and I say it's theft.

The real problem here is that tax minimization is like playing the stock market or artificial markets like housing...everyone wants to profit but not be there when the bubble bursts like the Great Depression.

I wish people would learn some bloody history..this is no different except the collapse would dwarf the 20s, Because of that Depression the USA put in tough controls that helped build real wealth and helped grow the Middle Class.

Honey is talking claptrap...any party that says they will crack down on Tax Rorts and minimization will be swept into power..for God's sake these dodgy practices apply to tens of 1000s...you don't think the other 60 Million want a crack at them?

It might well be claptrap, Hedda,because I know nothing about finance, but if it is legal to pay less tax, then why wouldn't you?
If everyone moans about paying too much tax it is obvious that they wont volunteer to pay more than they have to. (Tax evasion is a different matter)

Exactly Honey!