Jimmy Carr tax dodger - would you do the same?

relax carry on

For me it pretty much comes down to this simplistic view; in agreeing to be part of a society you agree to fund that society through your taxes both direct and indirect. Using tax avoidance schemes reduces your contribution to the society you are a part of.

Personally I find tax avoidance to be more reprehensible than tax evasion. At least with tax evasion the taxpayer or rather non-taxpayer, is honest with themselves about their dishonesty.

Legal tax avoidance schemes in both the UK and Ireland were created by politicians, some I'm sure with some misguided notion that they were doing good but most just for lobbyists, vested interests etc. The majority inevitably end up being abused and it takes some doing to close them down.

riclad

I think immoral to live in a country ,earn millions and avoid paying tax .The roads ,services and hospitals are paid for by taxes , i,m sure when he was growing up he used public services ,schools etc
But a whole system has grown up in the uk ,and the us,which enables corporations to reduce their tax bill ,route their profits thru luxemburg and various countrys .
The corporation tax rate doesnt mean much ,when theres so many legal ways to avoid paying tax.
Theres articles about apple, it pays a low rate of tax because it uses
various legal schemes to route profits to various countrys.
Hes doing us a favour because he show s us how easy it is for the rich to avoid paying tax ,while joe bloggs on paye has little choice in what he pays.
Many us corporation s are paying low tax,while employing people on
work experience on very low wages for 6 months.
Many rich people have said i,d like to pay more tax , my secretary pays more tax than me.
The uk government is actually giving health contracts to companys
who are notorious for using tax shelters to pay the bare minimum
uk tax.

If the uk government wants to close most of the loopholes its easy to do so.
Even u2 route their income thru a dutch company in order to
pay a lower rate of tax.

Sir Oxman

senordingdong wrote: »

The difference is that Carr and Barlow did not rape their country or anyone elses.
Why should they, or anyone, pay that much tax? To pay the IMF, to pay Mary Harneys pension, to pay RTEs deficit?
They saw a legal and legitimate scheme, and got on it.

They are one and the same, paying 1% tax is in no way fair or right.
What do you mean why should they or anyone pay that much tax?
'They' don't that's the point, the rest of us do.

Gandhi

Every year I do my taxes and when I get a number at the end I either apply for the refund I am entitled to (not one penny less) or send the check for the amount I am obliged to pay (not one penny more). Why on earth would anybody else do anything different? Is there anyone posting on here who habitually throws the government a few extra grand out of the goodness of their hearts at tax time?

The politicians' comments drive me crazy. Instead of falling over each other to criticize Carr they should be falling over each other to apologize to their constituents for presiding over a taxation system that has millionaires getting laughably small tax bills.

At least when Warren Buffett came out with a statement a few years ago that he paid tax at half the rate of his secretary, the US politicians (the democrats at least) were criticizing the system instead of Buffett himself, and coming up with ways to close the loophole. Not that they ever did much more than talking about it at the end.

IvySlayer

How many people slating Jimmy Carr actually paid their House tax...

Max_Charger

Anyone else watching 8 out of 10 cats? I'd say their viewing figures are fairly healthy this evening. They are proper ripping into him :pac:

cruiser178

Max_Charger wrote: »

Anyone else watching 8 out of 10 cats? I'd say their viewing figures are fairly healthy this evening. They are proper ripping into him :pac:

very funny, well worth turning over to it

PickledLime

Green Diesel wrote: »

I feel a sense of responsibility to pay tax. I've been educated by the state to MSc. level, at very little cost to me personally and I'd like to pay my fellow citizens back.

That doesn't happen any more, unfortunately (good on ya for having a moral obligation though, a lot of people don't).

B.A._Baracus

On one hand Jimmy Carr is right. No one wants to pay taxes and if there is a legal loop hole to get around this, why not take it.

On the other hand ... Governments are taxing the average joe to the hilt. While Carr, a rich man, isnt even paying a standard amount.

But thats life I guess.

senordingdong

Do ANY of yous feel like you are getting value for money in this society?

senordingdong

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

On one hand Jimmy Carr is right. No one wants to pay taxes and if there is a legal loop hole to get around this, why not take it.

On the other hand ... Governments are taxing the average joe to the hilt. While Carr, a rich man, isnt even paying a standard amount.

But thats life I guess.

As was already pointed out here, 1% of his earnings likely dwarves the contribution of average Joe.

Pantsface

If I had been presented with a legal way to get away with it I so would

B.A._Baracus

senordingdong wrote: »

As was already pointed out here, 1% of his earnings likely dwarves the contribution of average Joe.

Thats true I guess.
But a quick google search says that Carr is worth 12 million pounds (probably an inaccurate figure but none the less a figure floating about)

So ... that would work out at 120,000 pounds in tax for his 12 million. Not exactly fair is it


But i'm siding with Carr on this one. I'd do the same myself if i could.

Ms Happy

Kev_2012 wrote: »

If he's not breaking the law then it's nobody's business but his own.

"Morally wrong" my f*ck.

Well said Sir, My feelings exactly!

Taco Corp

I'm sure Cameron is now doing everything he can to make such schemes illegal...:rolleyes:

BRAIN FEEDs

i know of irish building firms in london who pay their employees through this system.

Pedant

It's not morally wrong to avoid paying tax, especially to an immoral institution. There is, however, a legal obligation. Tax is, for all intents and purposes, a form of theft - be it a legal theft.

As for Carr's case, he wasn't breaking the law. Therefore it was neither morally wrong or legally wrong, in my opinion.

Ardillaun

When anything is described as 'completely legal' you know that shady characters have been involved in putting the wheeze together - and that there is probably something dodgy about it.

On the wider issue of tax residency, I happen to believe that people who live in Ireland should pay taxes there. Determining that should start with questions like where do the kids go to school and not just days spent in the jurisdiction. In Canada, where considerably more trouble is taken to determine residency, the majority of our mega-rich are resident at home for tax purposes.

Conchir

It's all made for a very interesting 8 out of 10 cats tonight anyway.

Min

Headline in tomorrow's Financial Times: Stars face big bill as tax plan backfires‎.

bnt

I'm guessing that Jimmy's show on C4 had a few more viewers than average this week: "hello, and welcome to 8 out of 10 Cats, a show about opinion polls, surveys, statistics, and this week - I'm guessing - me."

peewee_44

I would do it, don't think he has done anything wrong. As for David Cameron saying its morally wrong well so are half the dealings you do but you still run the uk.

Pottler

biko wrote: »

If I was making a ton of money I'd probably use a tax accountant too. If only...

All internet bs aside, I make a ton of money, I also pay my taxes and I pay a shedload of PAYE etc for my employees. I also tax my vehicles, my TV and pay my VAT obligations in full, without the dodges. I regard that as my social obligation and I sleep better knowing I do my bit and do not take the p1ss. This adds up to a chunk of change. Houshold charge, now theres a line in the sand-I'll hire a good lawyer on that one when it comes to it and it probably will. If you live somwhere, and expect roads and teachers and stuff, pay your taxes. Unless the tax is a cnuts tax that makes your home not your own but an asset of the state.:) Yes, that can be called hypocritical, but bite me. On that one, yes, yes I can decide which I like and which I don't.:)

Alessandra

It's disgraceful! He's not exactly short for it? The common worker has to fork out and gets chased down and/or reprimanded if they dont comply. We'd all love to get away with it but then civilised societies dont run like that.

'I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilisation.' Oliver Wendell Holmes jr.

Despite myself I do admire him as a comedian. I did just see him on C4, reckon he'll have boosted ratings and will be remunerated for it. Win win situation for him.

Snickers Man

Assuming that you never break the law, when is it OK to behave in a tax-efficient manner, and when is it wrong to do so?

Some of the most effective LEGAL tax-avoidance measures you can take, especially if you are a PAYE tax payer, are:

1) Have children - big benefits there in terms of children's allowance, despite post-slump cutbacks.

2) Have a personal pension plan - you put money aside for your old age, you get very generous tax incentives to do so.

3) Have a mortgage - OK this one is gradually being phased out but it's still there as of now.

4) Don't smoke. If the government imposes a whopping duty on cigarettes to pay for public services, do we have a moral obligation to support this revenue-raising scheme? I think we do

5) Don't drink alcohol. Ditto

6) Don't own or drive a car. Ditto again.

7) Never spend any money outside the state, especially on fags, booze and prescription drugs. What is the correct price for a tablet to counter hypertension, or diabetes, or asthma? Nearly twice as much here as in the next jurisdiction. Why is this? Search me but the pharmacists say its not all their fault; it's the government's wholesale pricing structure.


So there we have it. The sort of tax sponging layabout that takes the most and contributes the least is a sterilised, non-smoking, non-drinking, cyclist/pedestrian/person with a leap card who has no need for medicines and refuses to save for their own retirement, expecting the government to step in with an index-linked pension paid for by those saps who drive down to the pub in their own cars.

It's time these people got off the cart and started pushing a little.

K-9

Min wrote: »

Headline in tomorrow's Financial Times: Stars face big bill as tax plan backfires‎.

Poor ould Alex!

Good reminder not to believe everything told by Accountants and tax lawyers, these things can backfire.

brummytom

I didn't find 8 Out of Ten Cats funny tonight at all, I found it very uncomfortable to watch.

B.A._Baracus

brummytom wrote: »

I didn't find 8 Out of Ten Cats funny tonight at all, I found it very uncomfortable to watch.

Seems to already been uploaded ... wow. quick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ENWHLaE98

I shall watch since I missed it :P

Badly Drunk Boy

Why not get rid of the loopholes?




By the way, at the moment, I'm so sad that I'm looking at an episode of Bergerac on Alibi which is dealing with people from 'the mainland' hiding their money on Jersey.

senordingdong

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Why not get rid of the loopholes?

By the way, at the moment, I'm so sad that I'm looking at an episode of Bergerac on Alibi which is dealing with people from 'the mainland' hiding their money on Jersey.

Becuase if the people who invented the loopholes, the politicians, got rid of them, then they and their golden circle mates wouldn't be able to avail of them.