Tax avoiders are obeying the law - 13 Mar 2012 - Accountancy Age

Tax avoiders are obeying the law - 13 Mar 2012 - Accountancy Age: "ONLY A HERMIT could have failed to notice the current furore over "abusive tax avoidance". After all, the media debates are often full of the self-righteous moralising over the activities of certain individuals and corporates who seek to minimise their tax burdens. Indeed one would imagine that tax avoidance is one of the great crimes of our age. Except that it's not a crime."

To further shape the debate, the Government has deliberately blurred the distinction between avoidance and evasion by tacking the word "abusive" onto the former. David Gauke was recently quoted as saying "Aggressive tax avoidance is ‘anti-business' and businesses should pay their full tax". Previous announcements have referred frequently to taxpayers paying the "right amount" of tax.

The plain fact that seems to have been overlooked in the din of the debate is that tax avoidance is perfectly legal and, one might say, mandatory. Is the company director who fails to take all legal steps to minimise the company's tax liabilities really doing his best as a custodian of the company's assets?

The current explosion of comment comes as no surprise. It suits the government very well to promote and foster a view that tax avoiders are "bad" and their activities are damaging to the country.

The economy is in bad shape, as we all know, and the Treasury is in desperate need of funds. More importantly, attacking tax avoiders reinforces the Government's mantra that "we're all in it together" and helps to deflect attention from the cuts.

Read more: http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/opinion/2158821/tax-avoiders-obeying-law#ixzz2G6AmsYK4
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