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Know any good tax avoidance schemes?

(20 posts) (13 voices)

Started 11 months ago by beau-jolly
Latest reply from Ironduke

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beau-jolly

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With the K2 scheme coming under scrutiny I wondered if anyone had any other good wheezes to legally avoid paying taxes.
I get around paying income tax by earning bugger all.

I once had the brief misfortune of working for a small subsiduary of the Cordwell (Phones4U) Group before resigning. John Cordwell became one of the richest men in the UK very quickly . Apparently all his potential income was paid into a trust off-shore rather than to him. He would then take out a loan secured against that trust and claim the interest against tax. I think he managed to have a negative tax return despite being worth £70,000,000. Mind you he is a f*cking crook. (I still know where some of the bodies are buried)

Posted 11 months ago #
Sinnick

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I think you mean "Alleged f*cking crook", considering that you publish your address here. And I'd be cautious about mentioning evidence when alleged crooks are involved, who now know your address.

I'm a little surprised that Jimmy Carr has made the news about this, TBH. Isn't it common knowledge that there are numerous marginally-legal avoidance tricks around ?

I understand it's usual practice for someone running a small business to reduce their overall tax liability to an extent, but also to pay themself a decent nominal salary (eg 10-15K). Paying too little tax overall will definitely attract HMRC attention.

At the macro level, compare the assets/liabilities of worldwide banks: http://www.bis.org/statistics/provbstats.pdf#page=7

Isn't it obvious that picking on Carr & a handful of similar folk is just pushing pennies around the table ? I bet Cameron enjoys the distraction. The vast amount of money that you & I earned for employers is sitting comfortably in banks in the Caymans, Leichtenstein, etc, etc. Unless this cash is released, the worldwide recession will continue indefinitely.

IMHO.

Posted 11 months ago #
Scroat

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Nobody has mentioned George Osborne's offshore millions. He's a GLS too.

Posted 11 months ago #
cinquecento

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win the Lottery - it's tax free. my current career strategy is based around this cunning ploy.

people bang on about working thru a limited company rather than PAYE as a loophole; I do this and there is a few percent in it an dbreaks like charging season tickets as expenses but the savings are much exaggerated, as you still have to get the money out of the company in order to spend it, and hence get taxed on your personal income. so far from being a tax profiteer , I pay both employee and employer NI on myself, plus the marginal 50% tax rate, plus of course I am contributing VAT to the national coffers. I was talking to a partner at one of the big accountnig firms recently who earns a stack and has access to the best tax advice - same thing, you can nibble at the edges but he hasn't found any particularly clever ways round the problem..

Posted 11 months ago #
Sinnick

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cc: he needs Jimmy Carr's accountant, then.

scroat: Osborne's a Good Looking Sodomist ??

Posted 11 months ago #
Scronnyglonkle

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I just pretend you are Greek and don't pay!

Posted 11 months ago #
Thor

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Stay on the dole. That way you’ll never need to worry about paying tax, or housing, or healthcare...

Posted 11 months ago #
Yikes

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cc is right.

So called legal avoidance commonly contain elements of fraud, pretence, and non-disclosure that make the accountants, lawyers, and participants liable to prosecution. Reading about what the K2 promoter said to participants (we do a scheme, they close it down, we do another) raises huge warning signals. Schemes like this may or may not be unwound but they can go spectacularly wrong. Then all the people prosecuted and tossed in jail go "poor me".

That is why top accounting or law firms are wary of such schemes - KPMG got prosecuted and fined gazillions in the US which presumably scared the horses to an extent ...

Posted 11 months ago #
The All New Jeni B

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Ok, I agree absolutely that Carr was morally, if not legally, wrong to be involved, doesn't anyone else suspect that the reason the govt is all over him may just be to distract from their own dodgy tax dealings?

Posted 11 months ago #
JohnA

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Why didn't Jimmy Carr simply move to Jersey as his main residence?

Posted 11 months ago #
beau-jolly

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Doesn't a tax adviser have a legal obligation to advise the client of the most effective way to minimise his liability?

Posted 11 months ago #
The All New Jeni B

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Nail on head b-j. Morally, it may be wrong, but legally, no.

I DO disagree with those who avoid as much as possible paying the full amount, but these legal loopholes exist, and as long as they do, people will utilise them.

Posted 11 months ago #
Yikes

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..

Posted 11 months ago #
bonjonelson

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clothes for fat kids make vat free clothes for small adults

Posted 11 months ago #
jobla

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Surely if the UK government is worried about schemes like this they should close these loopholes. It can't be that hard can it?

It seems uncharacteristically selfless of them to allow others to avoid paying their taxes, when ministers of course have nothing to lose by closing them...

Posted 10 months ago #
beau-jolly

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Hmmm! Maybe I was wrong about him

He's now worth £1.6bn, is No.3 on this year's rich list and spends all of his time helping poorly children. Here's a thing though. I bet the philanthropist and massive tax payer never gets an honour. Why would that be?

Posted 10 months ago #
waylandsmithy

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Antiques: buy and sell antiques.

It's all cash-in-hand, none of it goes through the books.

I own a small, wooden spoon that dates back to the '80s. When I retire, it's patina should be awesome (I still use it today for stirring baked beans, household paint, or brutalising spiders) and I should be able to buy a nice little place by the coast, once its full value is realised.

Posted 10 months ago #
Sinnick

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BJ, I hope you note that he sold Phones4U for £1.5 billion as a business, then paid £165 million personally over 4 years. I know the figures aren't really equatable, but that's fairly tax-efficient. The vast majority of that money didn't go to the Taxman.

Posted 10 months ago #
beau-jolly

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Your right Sinick. I make that 2.75% which is a pretty good rate.
Price's Charles' figure are out today. His tax of £4.5m works out at about 25% of his turnover and 50% of his profit. The tax payer then gives him £2.1m.
I'm not complaining but I can't help thinking that with a good accountant he could pay less tax in and take less out. Not that it would make any difference at all.

Posted 10 months ago #
Ironduke

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swings and roundabouts, innit?

He gets £2.1million income support, but for someone who saw Princess Diana naked to now have to sleep with Camilla...suddenly, his grass isn't looking so green.

Posted 10 months ago #

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