PPI or .................

[aernethril]

Panama Papers Investigation, or Panamagate, Panama Leaks..........................

Gotta love the whistleblowers.

The Guardian has a good article which is being updated live and contains a link to a great page by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)

the_power_players

Scroll down to the next level of Relatives / Associates of Country Leaders and ...................... oh oopsy!

Guess whose daddy had off-shore goings on!

Then, there's a great game you can try - short and sweet - but allows you to go back and try again so you to can learn how to squirrel away the millions you have no doubt been making on eBay!

[fallen-archie]

I completely understand your stance and can see where you identify an issue. My point is that many millions both rich and poor put self interest first, I suppose it comes down to the survival instinct so in that sense DC is not unusual. But if we look back at Prime Ministers regardless of hue they have all come in for a bashing in the press and by the public in fact name any PM who has not. I object profoundly to the level of direct and indirect tax I pay, I also celebrate the NHS but as I have pointed out on here many times I believe we abuse that service daily and that is the main reason Budgets are out of control. Because it is the public that do it no one is prepared to discuss the problem. What hapenned to trust or honesty?

[aernethril]

I agree and again, there is nothing wrong with wanting to minimise one's tax liability legitimately.

But again, so many simply don't have that option and cannot avoid paying not just income tax.

I knew a woman who had to sell the home she'd lived in and looked after her elderly mother in because of the ludicrous level of inheritance tax once her mother died.  Whether they could have taken steps in time to avert this, I don't know, but she had no money to pay the IT and the house wasn't in too good a state given there were no savings or spare cash to do it up.

The value of the house had increased because property prices had, which pushed it over a threshold which had not been increased for decades.

So it was sold for less than it could have been and the woman ended up with not enough to buy herself even a small flat.

Set that against the ability to move money around so that IT can be deferred when paid to a surviving spouse who can then go on to make a lifetime gift to a child or grandchild to avoid the tax altogether (assuming the donor survives the minimum 7 years) and it's clearly not a level playing field.

That happens - there will always been winners and losers, but when the system is so palpably unfair and unbalanced, then those that can and do and rub the noses of those who can't in it, they have to take what reaction that produces.

DC has only himself to blame for the higher than usual flack because he is so arrogant and patronising and frankly not honest.

So, he's going to be the first Prime Minister to do what no other PM has done before - he's going to publish his tax returns.  (drum roll again!!!)

"But, let me tell you, here's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to boor you with those complicated forms that are filed with HMRC because that would be too difficult for many of you to understand., No, what I'm going to do is to be far more transparent than that.  What I'm going to do is to not show you the actual tax returns but to get my accountants to produce a clear and transparent simplified version of my income and where I get my money from."

Oh really!  So we're all too stupid to understand a tax return?  We are all so stupid that we're going to believe that we're being told everything?

We are not going to question that tax returns for married couples are usually filed together and especially where there are joint holdings and accounts so that yet again, we're being given another version of events.

Why is it ok to take advantage of tax avoidance on inheritance tax and capital gains tax, but not ok to take advantage of the same legitimate options on minimising income tax?  Who is he to start picking and choosing what is ok to avoid because he wants to do it and what is not, so he can hurl the flack at others who have no protection.?

It's really not hard to understand why this eejit is getting more and more flack and why it just gets even more relevant to ask, "just what is he hiding now?"

Someone at some point, because this is not just going to affect DC, needs to stand up and state, quite clearly

"There is nothing wrong with being wealthy, in fact we need those who create wealth.  There is nothing wrong with utilising the tax break options where they are legitimately available especially where that helps small businesses, families, self employed for example.  There is nothing wrong with owning shares in trusts, having assets whether active now or that may be realised later.

This is all part of the wealth of society and we shouldn't be ashamed of it but be proud that it is something achievable for many.

What we must do is to bring about changes in tax laws which currently are loopholes that give anyone, individuals or companies, the ability to avoid vast amounts of tax to the detriment of society.

What we must do is to ensure that those who avoid paying tax or cause losses to HMRC are made to pay so that those who are not wealthy and have no options but to pay every bit of tax are not made to suffer."

I could go on.

But this isn't going to go away as long as DC keeps so obviously twisting at every turn to block people from finding something he is desparate to keep hidden.

[artful_dodgings]

Yes, this theatrical could go on for some time, in fact may only be superseded by Agatha Christie's 'Mousetrap'. Myself I can't feel even a modicum of sympathy for The Rt Hon Cameron. He only has himself to blame, for trying to pull a fast one. It the media and populace in general are giving him a hard time *boo-hoo* so be it. It was all purely self-inflicted.  'Oh what a tangled web weave, when first we practice to deceive'. .

'An absolute arrogant shower, the lot of them'.

Nail on head there, aernethril. To quote good old Terry-Thomas: "You’re an absolute shower". (Although I like yours better). That indefinable air of untrustworthiness.

Anyway, my gran always said that you should never trust a man with thin lips.

[aernethril]

The Guardian has more pages and not just on DC

First, a very good article (IMHO) about the true nature of this tax evasion issue.

money-offshore-corrupt-democracy-political-influenced

Then another article about HMRC which again, IMHO, raises more questions about impartiality and just how honestly and in-depth any investigation will be conducted.

hmrc-chief-partner-law-firm-offshore-fund

Then we see dave rushing in, yet again to take total control back, without any thought to this - just push push bully push to get his own way to deflect any more probling questions about what he is hiding.

New tax laws

and lets get the pot stirring on the EU debate to focus the attention away with a bit of moral bribery because he is so sure he's going to win the referendum - well, of course when he can just spend £9m on promoting opinions as facts, how can he lose

david-cameron-eu-referendum-boris-johnson-michael-gove

Another view on the whole issue of misuse of wealth and off shore havens and the wider damaging effect they have

the-guardian-view-on-david-cameron-the-warping-ways-of-wealth

And then finally - words fail me - almost

universal-credit-cuts-to-lose-low-income-families-up-to-200-a-month

"Ministers have said households affected by the changes could work extra hours to make up the difference...."

When many have had their hours cut because of the introduction of the NLW?

Analysis by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimates that families with a sole earner working full-time on the “national living wage” of £7.20 an hour would have to work a 13-month year to compensate for the cuts, and a full-time single parent would have to work a 14-month year.

But hey, as long as it saves the Treasury money and dave can continue to hide the true extent of just how much he's been able to manipulate the tax loopholes to his ever increasing advantage, that's ok, isn't it.

About time the pig started to bite back - IMHO!

[cee-dee]

TBQH, I'm sick to death of hearing about the tax evasion/avoidance issue.

If the issue was/is of such great importance, why were the loopholes (!) not closed when the Labour government was in power?

How about Tony B-liar publishing his tax returns and not just last years, going back a few years too?

[evoman3957]

Because that really would bring the argument of "one rule for one lot and another rule for the other lot " into the foreground.  Although some find excuses for anything..........when it suits their purposes.

[joe_bloggs*]

Someone put this up for sale on ebay,under the statues & ornaments section 

David Cameron, the British prime minister in the middle of the #PanamaPapers tax evasion scandal, was briefly up for auction on eBay by a hilarious seller this week.

Listed in the ‘statues and ornaments’ section, “David Cameron” had a ‘Buy Now’ price of £65,900 (US$94,000) before the ad was removed from the site Tuesday.

That’s a steep cost for a “used” item described as being sold “for parts or not working” and “no longer needed.”

https://www.rt.com/uk/339333-used-david-cameron-ebay/

[artful_dodgings]

He had plenty to say regarding Jimmy Carr's tax affairs. Appears he's now apologised to him. Add 'hypocrite' to his list of adjectives.

http://www.thelondoneconomic.com/satire/david-cameron-apologises-to-jimmy-carr-over-tax-avoidance-mi...

Mind you, good old Dennis 'The Menace' Skinner's outburst in the chamber made this charade somewhat worthwhile.

[aernethril]

Too funny - I'm surprised the bidding got up that far though.

Did they think he'd come ready stuffed for display?

[aernethril]

Is that for real?

A Downing Street statement read ‘There is a lot of confusion over tax avoidance and tax dodging. Tax avoidance is actually OK sometimes, but it really depends who is doing it. Tax dodging is always morally wrong, unless you did it in the past and won’t benefit from it in the future, or it was set up by a relative or friend.’

It went on to say ‘Most people don’t really understand about tax, so we just advise they keep working and can relax in the knowledge that their bosses will tax them the correct amount at source. Thankfully we’ve also made it a difficult as possible for worker-bees to set themselves up as ‘contractors’, to ensure they always pay their tax at source. In order to give workers the same feeling of flexibility, we have tried to keep zero hours contracts going.’

They went on to say ‘Worker-bees must also understand that rich people are entitled to pay less tax because they have contributed more throughout their family history. If you’re poor and thinking of avoiding tax, don’t because it would be morally repugnant.’

[evoman3957]

I love this whole concept of tax, producing comments from people like " We are the Party that allows people to keep more of their money ". If you got Mugged on the street and the mugger said " I won't take all your money, I'll let you keep a few quid ".........would you really think you'd got a result

[artful_dodgings]

Yes Aernethril, amazing isn't it ? Although to be fair, I do think maybe it was an oversight on the Editor's part in this case, for not spotting it as you did. I think what really happened was that the reporter accidentally got his copy mixed up with a script from 'Yes Minister', and he simply typed it up.

Ah well, must buzz off...