Avoidance

Ordinary people have little to no opportunity of evading the taxman. We are obliged to pay our dues. In any case, paying one's required taxes is surely part and parcel of being an honest citizen. Those roads, that hospital, those schools, that air force, those services - they all cost money and it is surely only right that we should each pay our fair share.

However, this kind of egalitarian thinking seems to be an anathema to a lot of seriously wealthy people. They appear to believe that it is their God-given right to bend the tax rules, to evade, to dodge, to sequester, to utilise tax havens. They walk a narrow line between lawfulness and illegality - often employing fancy lawyers and consultants to exploit loopholes. It is an unpleasant kind of social irresponsibility though some might simply call it selfishness or greed. Thank heavens not all wealthy people conduct their financial affairs in this reprehensible manner.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer is a fellow called Rishi Sunak - at least I think that is how his first name is spelt. It could easily be Richy given his personal wealth. In the last few weeks, it has transpired that Sunak and his wife have been using several devices to reduce their tax bills. It seems that an anonymous whistleblower has flagged up their connivance and Sunak is apparently furious about this. He has demanded an enquiry and got one!

I find this utterly flabbergasting. It's like a bank robber complaining about being grassed up by a police informer. Instead of getting all antsy about being found out, Sunak should be apologising to the nation and maybe doing the right thing by resigning from high office. Incidentally, yesterday he was issued with a fine by the London Metropolitan Police Service for attending at least one illegal party at Number 10 Downing Street during the height of COVID restrictions in the summer of 2020.

Until very recently, Sunak was being touted as our next prime minister after Johnson inevitably bites the dust. Given recent tax revelations, it now seems highly improbable that he will ever be allowed to rise to the top.



from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/lVdLbyB

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