keg Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 I see an MP ( Margaret Hodge) has the cheek to criticise GB for tax evasion... Have to love the old champagne socialist You have to love it, the previous and current govt wanted more investment in the arts so allows tax breaks. GB and his mates invest in a company that promotes unknown bands, it makes a loss in the first years as many start ups do, you are allowed to roll loses over to offset tax. What has he done wrong?. He declared it on his tax return otherwise HMRC would have never known. When will people understand the difference between avoidance and evasion. Many people are investigated every day, it's just that GB is high profile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 HMRC have recruited some of talent from the tax dept at the big 3 accountants............. now all the scams get investigated... ITs a win win for them invest and get a write off or it makes it big and your a winner its like playing roulette with someone elses money... you probably wont win but your not going to loose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retromlc Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 they wanna go after the costa coffee's of this country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdubya Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 pity she didn't put as much effort into the kids home in Islington? by the way avoidance via the rules is one thing, setting up a company to exploit a loophole is another still his pocket his gonna be hurting a bit shortly. KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon R Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 He has big pockets. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted May 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 pity she didn't put as much effort into the kids home in Islington? by the way avoidance via the rules is one thing, setting up a company to exploit a loophole is another still his pocket his gonna be hurting a bit shortly. KW Agree with the Islington comment. What he did was still legal. The govt wanted people to invest in the arts, he did. At one of his shows, he was constantly promoting new talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Again it is tabloid politics, high profile target, not paying his fair share like the common man, rally to my flag I will see you alright! Almost all of our MP's or wannabe MP's couldn't care less about the individual, doesn't matter if he didn't break the law, he is simply a foil for her to promote sound bites, what Labour MP made the statement similar to 'the law doesn't matter, it is the court of public opinion'? Until of course they are caught at the trough and then the 'I was operating within the law' defence is pushed very hard. They would happily see someone trodden into the dirt so long as they are OK. Sadly we the public lap it up and love to be outraged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 What a load of rubbish the bloke is a singer he has people to do that stuff for him if they want to go after someone they should do his accountants or go after the real robbers like Amozen etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot and be safe Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Good look to him for saving on his tax bill Gary Barlow is a successful singer/songwriter, every time one of his songs gets played he gets a royalty which makes up his income. Why should he (& other successful business men/women) be penalised for making money. My personal view on income tax is that it should be the same % for everyone. Why should the wealthy pay the benefits for the spongers? If you work hard you deserve the wage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx4cabbie Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Completely agree with Shootandbesafe, same tax should be paid by everyone, and all loopholes should be shut. Why should you work a 90hr week after years of study and graft, and have 50% taken from you? That is the kind of thing that makes you look for avoidance/evasion tactics. Everyone pays the same, the bloke in the director's chair and the bloke who empties his bin, then it's fair and no-one can complain. Then go after the corporations, Amazon make 3 billion and pay 12 million tax, and it's all legal? *****cks, you make money here, you pay your way. Same with costa coffee, close the loopholes. Jersey won't like it, neither will Luxembourg or the caymans, but it's the only way to keep things fair, and maybe close the gap a Little between the working man who pays a quarter of his earnings and the very wealthy who squirrel most of theirs away because they have clever accountants/lawyers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 With a general election looming you have got to look at every story carefully (and who the paper is) - here GB is the darling of the current administration with the support of the Royals too so the other lot will make a big issue of this. As four-wheel-drive said GB has employed bean-counters to manage his financial affairs so go after them not the big name. As was said on R4 (I think) all these so called schemes have been passed through the hands of various tax professionals including QC's so who is the bad guy - not GB I think. Rules are different now I gather - you pay full rate on all earnings and then your financial team apply for tax relief under 'xyz' scheme so you have to make case to claw back not the other way round which to me seems correct eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 I pay as little tax as possible and employ an accountant to do my accounts. If he came to me and said if we do ABC with some of your money it will save you money and it is perfectly legal, I would jump at it. I can't believe anyone would say no. Carp like this just pushes the very rich to spend enough time out of the country so they pay no tax here at all. Cut the company loopholes for Amazon and such, that would raise a lot more than Barlow and his mates might owe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) Fair play to Barlow. He's done nothing wrong. As far as I'm concerned every citizen has a moral duty to pay as little tax as possible. Giving money to politicians is like giving matches to an infant. The message this kind of fiasco sends out is that hard work and success is immoral and we should all shuffle through life in sack cloth and ashes handing every penny we possess to the state. Cobblers. It was once suggested at cabinet level in the previous government (it may even have been Margaret Hodge) that all personal earnings should be paid directly to HMRC who would allocate an allowance to each person according to need and keep the rest. It is the function of private enterprise to make profit, not raise money for politicians to spend. If I were Gary Barlow I'd skip the country and a take my money and my job creating energies with me. Edited May 13, 2014 by Gimlet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 there is accountancy/££ advice and there is aggressive tax planning/avoidance & evasion...the fees charged for some of these 'schemes' are mental..I would love take that to publicly sack their advisors.....it is a shame to see success as a political pawn as HMRC jump on 'easy targets' but do behind shut doors deals with multi nationals where they often end up working themselves!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuji Shooter Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Good luck to him, he did nothing wrong. But why anyone would want to stay here with that much cash is beyond me. Much nicer places to live with full pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88b Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 The mans not an accountant , he employs people to do that for him. Technically it is or was legal, so what has he done wrong ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Fair play to Barlow. He's done nothing wrong. As far as I'm concerned every citizen has a moral duty to pay as little tax as possible. Giving money to politicians is like giving matches to an infant. The message this kind of fiasco sends out is that hard work and success is immoral and we should all shuffle through life in sack cloth and ashes handing every penny we possess to the state. Cobblers. It was once suggested at cabinet level in the previous government (it may even have been Margaret Hodge) that all personal earnings should be paid directly to HMRC who would allocate an allowance to each person according to need and keep the rest. It is the function of private enterprise to make profit, not raise money for politicians to spend. If I were Gary Barlow I'd skip the country and a take my money and my job creating energies with me. Typical Labour approach, business and success is their enemy. Keep the population down at heel, play to the lowest level and convince them that anybody with more than them is to be reviled, all the while feeding their own privileged lifestyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Not sure what the big fuss is. The scheme he was in has been deemed by the courts to be 'non-compliant' (as in it's sole purpose was to reduce tax liability) and therefore he will have to pay the tax that he avoided. He hasn't broken the law so don't see why his OBE is being questioned. That said Fred Goodwin hadn't either but he was a **** whereas Barlow seems a nice guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Prawn Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 I'm sure it was his advisors not him but either way it was clearly a scam - circular loans round a group of companies in order to offset tax is clearly not going to be legal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 pity she didn't put as much effort into the kids home in Islington? Beat me to it. Hodge is a fine one to advocate contrition in others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karpman Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Good look to him for saving on his tax bill Gary Barlow is a successful singer/songwriter, every time one of his songs gets played he gets a royalty which makes up his income. Why should he (& other successful business men/women) be penalised for making money. My personal view on income tax is that it should be the same % for everyone. Why should the wealthy pay the benefits for the spongers? If you work hard you deserve the wage. Haha well said I agree it should be the same for everyone, so why do the richest pay less per % something like the top earners pay less than 0.5% tax. Funny how when it's Garry Barlow a ton of people jump to his side when it's jimmy Carr were happy to hand draw and quarter lol. Karpman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot and be safe Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 I thought the same about Jimmy Carr. Good luck to anyone who pays less tax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Haha well said I agree it should be the same for everyone, so why do the richest pay less per % something like the top earners pay less than 0.5% tax. Funny how when it's Garry Barlow a ton of people jump to his side when it's jimmy Carr were happy to hand draw and quarter lol. Karpman Because Carr was quite vocal in slagging off tax dodgers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laird Lugton Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Not sure what the big fuss is. The scheme he was in has been deemed by the courts to be 'non-compliant' (as in it's sole purpose was to reduce tax liability) and therefore he will have to pay the tax that he avoided. He hasn't broken the law so don't see why his OBE is being questioned. That said Fred Goodwin hadn't either but he was a **** whereas Barlow seems a nice guy. I didn't know "Scot" was now a swear word? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poontang Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Completely agree with Shootandbesafe, same tax should be paid by everyone, and all loopholes should be shut. Why should you work a 90hr week after years of study and graft, and have 50% taken from you? That is the kind of thing that makes you look for avoidance/evasion tactics. Everyone pays the same, the bloke in the director's chair and the bloke who empties his bin, then it's fair and no-one can complain. I pretty much agree with the above. Give people more of what they earn and they'll spend it, putting more into the economy. Give more to the government, any government, and they'll almost certainly waste it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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