http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31468781

Yeah, right.

And the current government has had five years to put what went wrong right, and they chose not to.

I genuinely think they're making a mistake doing the 'it was labour's fault' at this point. To get a bit of a honeymoon period at the beginning of a term, yes, good tactic. But if you say it NOW, all you're doing is putting exactly that thought in people's heads. If you say 'well the last lot broke it', the first thing most people are going to think is 'well, why haven't you already put it right then?'

There are only three possible answers to that

1) 'We can't' - in that case, what use are you?
2) 'We don't know how to' - in which case, what use are you?
3) ' We haven't managed it yet' - in which case, what the heck HAVE you been doing?

Using the 'previous administration' excuse is not only leaving yourself open to a 'when did you stop beating your wife?' question, it's positively bringing it into the mind of the voter. If I was a tory spin doctor, I'd be screaming at them to stop using it and find something better.

What the MP's really need to do is get off their backsides and close all these tax loopholes - but of course they won't do that as it will hurt their rich friends (or themselves).

This recent HSBC bashing is a good example - tax avoidance is not the same as tax evasion.

The problem is that there are legitimate reasons for tax avoidance as an incentive to encourage desirable activities like saving (ISA's, pensions) or encouraging investment. Unfortunately unless the rules regarding each form of avoidance are written incredibly tightly it's usually possible for them to be used in ways other than intended.

The main problem we have is that the people writing the tax rules are frequently advisers or will ultimately end up working for the accountancy firms that then go on the advise individuals on tax avoidance - they know the rules inside out, including any loopholes, because they wrote the rules themselves.

I suspect a massive simplification of tax rules would be quite a good thing for the country overall.

Ed Balls vows to crack down on tax evasion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31477788



He must have been shocked to hear about the loopholes you could land a personal jet in

*sigh* that's this government's answer to everything - 'More powers for government! That's fix it!'

I tell you what you can do to fix it. You telling HMRC to actually use the powers they already have and not cutting the numbers of people whose job it is to investigate tax irregularities by a third, like you are doing. Those two things would make a big difference straight away.

In other words, not one more word of legislation is needed. Not one. Just a commitment on your part to actually do something. What do you reckon the chances of that are? I reckon pretty much nil.

The tax system is horribly complex, and it’s so complex that no one person gets it. Those who designed it found that it’s more lucrative for them to advise companies privately than it is to implement the rules they helped write and get the money in.

flat rate tax system on everything for all and everybody. its the only way forward ...

boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Promise:

Something a politician says that they will do with no intention of actually following through and doing.


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