Tax reform is the only credible response to tax dodging
Britain’s increasingly complicated tax code creates loopholes which those with clever accountants can exploit, and means that HMRC has to focus on administering dysfunctional rules rather than chasing those who break them. That is why Ed Miliband was right when he said we need the Government to do more than say this extreme tax avoidance is wrong, they need to change the rules so it is harder, riskier and less worthwhile. With simpler taxes that apply the same single rate to all income, from shareholders’ dividends to workers’ wages, we can ensure everyone pays no more or less than their fair share.
A comprehensive overhaul of our tax code – the Single Income Tax as recommended by the TPA and the Institute of Directors – is now vital, not just to create the conditions for stronger economic growth, but also to restore the legitimacy of Britain’s tax system. The TPA has been making that case in the media, for example our Director, Matthew Sinclair, discussed the issue on ITV’sDaybreak and Sky News' Jeff Randall Live.
Taxpayer-funded environmentalism
Specific examples included the European Environmental Bureau taking nearly £9 million since 1997 and advocating, among other things, minimum levels for green taxes like Fuel Duty; and Friends of the Earth and the Climate Action Network, which have received a combined £8 million. They produced a video that imagined ‘Energy Savings Man’ abducting the representatives of countries including Britain and harassing them to support new regulations that would increase electricity prices.
The research was covered in the Daily Telegraph and online and is part of a sustained TPA campaign to expose wasteful and undemocratic taxpayer-funded politics.Stopping funding to Argentina
The Argentinian Government continue to demonstrate why it shouldn’t be getting these loans. At the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, its President, Cristina Kirchner, accused Britain of ‘colonialism’ for respecting the wishes of the Falkland Islanders, who want to remain British. TPA Political Director, Jonathan Isaby, looked at why the National Taxpayers Union in the United States argued this week that Argentina doesn’t even belong in the G20.Best of the blogs
Robert Oxley argued that the BMA should accept necessary reforms to doctors’ pensions rather than taking the “head in the sand” approach of too many other public sector unions.
Henry Wilson examined credit card spending by the Office for National Statistics and the UK Statistics Authority, finding that thousands had been spent at luxury hotels and on expensive catering. He argued that it was “a shame that these number crunchers couldn’t keep a track on their own ballooning bills.”
In local news, Chris Daniel wrote about incredible credit card spending by Essex County Council and how taxpayers in Lancashire were left with a £250,000 bill after a botched office move. Meanwhile, Tim Newark looked atanger over a big increase in the Vice-Chancellor of Bath University’s salary.
Rory Meakin scrutinised the cases of celebrities using tax avoidance schemes, saying that we need the implement the 2020 Tax Commission’s proposals to remove loopholes and reduce the incentive to avoid taxes in the first place.
Friday 22 June 2012
The Times has exposed a series of wealthy celebrities going to incredible lengths to avoid paying their taxes this week. The scandals uncovered really highlight the scale of the problems with Britain’s tax system, and how it needs to change.
New TPA research out this week exposed how taxpayers’ money is squandered on EU grants to environmentalist campaigns. Taxpayers pay twice: once for the grants handed out and then again with the higher prices that result when environmentalist groups successfully lobby for new taxes and regulations. It isn’t right for politicians and bureaucrats to use their access to taxpayers’ money to support groups pushing their ideological agendas at our expense.
Our campaign urging the Government to oppose World Bank loans to Argentina continues to make progress. The official petition has now passed 8,000 signatures. Visit StopFundingArgentina.org to add your name and please urge your friends to sign as well. More Parliamentarians of all parties are also backing the campaign by putting their names to Early Day Motion 185; including Conservative MP Graham Brady, the Chair of the influential 1922 Committee, and Derek Twigg, the Labour MP who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Falkland Islands Group.
Matthew Sinclair wrote about Inheritance Tax and argued that the death tax “is not just dysfunctional but outright wrong.”
Posts
