Taxing times: Good and bad tax avoidance

Taxing times: Good and bad tax avoidance

The Coalition government and the Labour opposition are on their moral high horses condemning tax avoidance. Parliament has put through extensive anti-avoidance legislation.

The Treasury is taking new powers to require people to notify the tax authorities of schemes in advance, and to take money directly out of bank accounts where they think it is owed. There is a general anti-avoidance power, which means a scheme which people thought was legal can become unacceptable. The climate is against people and companies who pay ‘too little’ tax. The state has a big debt and deficit and is looking for more ways to tax you. At the same time, government continues to author more and more tax avoidance schemes itself. On 1 July, the public welcomed the more generous n...