To be fair, HMRC have been shafted as much as any other branch of the Civil Service by 'austerity'. They are in the position where, they only have a chance of getting anything from the little people. Better (from the governments point of view) to catch 100 'tax cheats' for the headlines which might yield, say, £100K in revenue, than go after a single corporation or individual who can afford lawyers and accountants to tie things up for years, even though HMRC might be able to claim back millions if successful.

If the political will was there, a properly funded HMRC could go after the big fish. However, this government will never, ever back this. 'New Labour' didn't before them. The next government probably won't either.

Who knows? If successive governments (over the last couple of decades, at the very least) had actually made an effort to close tax loopholes and shut evasion schemes, I suspect public finances would be in a much better state. Sadly, cutting public services will always be easier than going after your political donors for the tax they owe.

JL85's response....

A point that seem's totally lost on the right. They love a hard line approach, until it's aimed at them, then they scuttle back to the left.

It's not a legitimate argument though.

Morality is fine, but it's too woolly a concept to nail someone down and that is why we have laws and a legal system to enforce the laws.

You can't have a system that acts on which way the wind is blowing or if the judge is in a good mood.

That's the sort of system Henry VIII was operating.

Cameron's investments are/were acceptable according to law.

If you don't like our current laws get yourself elected to government to pass ones more attuned to your moral code.

Or vote for Corbyn

Don't give up your day job if that is your conclusion... you won't make it to CID.

What the discussions have concluded is that Cameron has done nothing wrong by investing in an overseas unit trust because the current laws allow any UK domiciled citizen to do so as long as you declare any dividend for income tax and any profit on sale for CGT purposes.... which he did and has been documented on his tax return.

What the discussions have also concluded is that a handful of you somehow feel that what he's done is immoral but apart from shout obscenities at him and other wealthy folk have no real answer to making things better.

Uninteresting.

I don't think I could afford to. I don't have parents capable of 200k gifts. The system is rigged, always has been, towards maintain the status quo, and increasingly towards the corporate state.

But I also agree, the issue shouldn't be about morality, but law. We need to establish very clearly whether or not the practices of tax avoidance schemes fall within the bounds of UK laws or break them. Its a very grey area because these shelter schemes would be illegal in the UK, but aren't in their hosting nations.

But I think some people are also of the view that these schemes are avoidance, they aren't, they're mostly untested in UK law. In other cases in the past, HMRC have won and lost cases against Tax Avoidance Schemes (resulting in tax being levied on those funds). People tend to forget as well that the 'spirit of the law' plays a much bigger role in civil matters, than criminal matters.

They might not be criminal, but they may not be legitimate.

We've already established that certain actions, even if legal abroad, committed abroad, are crimes in the UK.

Edited by jamiemartin721 (12 Apr 2016 1.11pm)

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

Wrong and criminal, aren't necessarily the same thing mind. Arguably there is an ethical question regarding a PM who has talked seriously about reducing tax avoidance taking advantage of tax avoidance schemes - As it talks to their integrity, especially when they try to spin their way out of it.

Then again, lets look a UK corporations and multinationals instead to begin with, because its much much easier for them to do this, and avoid paying massive amounts of taxation.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]