“According to David Cameron, "aggressive" tax avoidance is "morally wrong". His Chancellor agrees. George Osborne describes "aggressive" tax avoidance as "morally repugnant".
They were speaking in 2012 after Jimmy Carr, the comedian, was exposed for having channelled £3.3m a year into a tax avoidance scheme. This week, the Government was repeating the same mantra, this time in relation to the financial affairs of another entertainer, Gary Barlow, the singer.” Chris Blackhurst, Independent, 15/5/14
Osborne has said many times how he is cracking down on tax avoiders. He has been Chancellor for four years now, long enough for someone who claims to be cracking down to have got cracking. Sadly, all this talk of cracking down is just bullshit. As he mouths this garbage he actually welcomes tax avoiding companies to the UK. Take for instance his tweet that he was ‘thrilled to welcome’ Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg to number 11 and that her efforts were good for the economy. Now that wouldn’t be the same Facebook that have made a mockery of our tax regime by running their sales through Ireland ?
It would! Thanks to Private Eye for digging that little gem up.
Should we expect anything else from a posh spiv? Well the more he talks about tax, the more we count the spoons. By the way his family business uses a trust in an offshore haven. No! Not Honest George!
What about his chum, Call Me Dave? Apart from getting very intimate with the Murdoch empire he has the good fortune to be married to an Astor. Now they own a large estate on the Isle of Jura and Dave likes to visit and spend some time killing wildlife. So far so appalling. There is an extra little twist in that the estate is registered to a company in the Bahamas …..for tax purposes.
“……there are at least 15,611 British company directors based in overseas tax shelters. If I was HMRC searching for tax avoiders I'd put all 15,611 of them under the microscope until they squeal and offer to make a settlement – at which point the revenue should drive a hard bargain, harder than it's been doing of late. After all, what can be more "aggressive" in terms of tax avoidance than going and locating yourself in a tax haven?
The Swiss number is interesting. It's actually risen, from about 7,000 two years ago to more than 9,000. So much for the Government's declared putsch against tax havens, and those who use them.” Ibid
Osborne and Cameron operate in a world where aggressive tax avoidance is the norm. It is only the hoi polloi who pay their full whack. We cannot trust a word either of them says on the subject.
Judge them by what they do.
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