"Tax Avoidance"

The tax avoidance rules are there to be used, they were created deliberately obtuse to make it very difficult for ordinary people to use effectively. They were created so that the wealthy elite or establishment could minimise their tax obligations, especially useful when you realise that 50 years ago high rate tax payers were paying something like 80% or 90% in tax. A lot of those high rate tax payers were in positions that allowed them to influence the tax rules for their benefit. Nowadays of course income tax is much lower but when you consider the cost of VAT and inflationary erosion of money, it's probably just as high as its always been.

As a self employed person I have always tried to minimise the tax I pay, as all self employed persons should and actually do; a person goes into business to make money, not to give it to the government. Consider that 8 out of 10 businesses fail and it's always a high risk endeavour to be self employed. Therefore, it's fair that such people are given some leeway when it comes to tax.

The main tax revenues are collected from employees, simply because of their sheer numbers. Employees usually have no direct control over their tax obligations as it is managed by their employer according to strict government guidelines and rules. Employees are usually pissed off that their employers make more money than them or that they pay too much in tax, but without employers or business people there could not be any employees because it's they that create the jobs in the first place.

It's a trade off; find a job, work, earn a wage pay the (punitive) tax. You won't get rich but it's relatively secure and risk free. Remember that the employer had to jump through a considerable number of hoops to make that job available for you and the whole of the time that you have your secure job, the employer is always at risk of going under from any of a myriad financial reasons. If he can ease his cash flow by avoiding tax then he should. It is his prerogative.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Those poor hard done by millonairs, how dare society expect something back from them, wow is them: rollseyes:

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Wesley Snipes tried tax avoidance in the wrong way and he will spend the next 3 years in a federal prison in Pennsylvania....

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Yes, his accountants apparently failed to notice 37 millions in earnings; well, it's just a trifling little number isn't it? Anyone could have missed it.

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

 

People that are cash rich actually generate wealth. They buy things with their cash, they invest in stocks (businesses that provide employment) with their cash, they put their cash into banks (that lend to ordinary Joe). It's the bankers in collusion with certain elements in governments that fucked society up by lending too much to the masses knowing full well they could never afford to pay it back. The masses borrowed it because they wanted to buy houses, cars and i-phones in order to feel wealthy but real wealth is never borrowed it's earned by hard work, intelligence, talent and relentless ambition. Millionaires rule; what's stopping you?

 

In the US, the wealthiest 1% of the population pays 20% of the taxes. The wealthiest 20% pay 55% (ish) of the taxes.

I suspect these numbers are much different in Europe and Australia.

How much should society expect?

 

god people are still using that tired old taxed twice bs. it lacks intelligence and any sort of rationality. its just a fairy tale that was made up to push the tax burden on those least able to afford it.

 

your conflating income with producativity which is not the case

 

Yep, when the study was done on proctivity in the UK the top 1%? 5%? Whatever LOWERED productive where as the teachers ect who get paid squat produce 10* there salery

 

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

 

I don't know where the study is, you go through all the old threads here and find it
Anyway it was a British study on the value for the economy of relitive jobs.