brin
I am trying to stay calm.
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Post by brin on Apr 6, 2016 19:08:15 GMT
Moral question. You earn 1m per year in the uk, from your uk business, (i do not by the way) should you pay tax on the 1m?... or should you employ an accountant to reduce that tax bill.?
Please everyone... Its a straight forward moral based question, no guff please about tax laws or loop holes or how its the tory's fault for not doing this or that.
SHOULD YOU PAY TAX DUE. Y OR N
edit was the qustion marks
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ben
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Post by ben on Apr 6, 2016 19:33:20 GMT
If you had asked me that question 3 months ago I would have said yes, however over the last few months seeing what the British government think is a good idea to spend taxes on I really don't care.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Apr 6, 2016 22:12:40 GMT
Moral question. You earn 1m per year in the uk, from your uk business, (i do not by the way) should you pay tax on the 1m?... or should you employ an accountant to reduce that tax bill.? Please everyone... Its a straight forward moral based question, no guff please about tax laws or loop holes or how its the tory's fault for not doing this or that. SHOULD YOU PAY TAX DUE. Y OR N edit was the qustion marks Of course you should pay all the tax that is due. Absolute no-brainer. That doesn't, of course, mean you should not arrange your finances in such a way as to reduce the tax due. And it's the grey area where one becomes the other that causes all of these questions. The line between tax avoidance and tax evasion. Did you drink a bottle of wine tonight? Smoke a packet of ciggies? No? Then you avoided paying the tax due on them. Thinking of putting money into an IFISA? The only reason to do that is to avoid paying tax on your savings. When you bought a new car, did you buy a more economical one with lower VED? That's all tax avoidance, just as much as investing offshore can be.
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brin
I am trying to stay calm.
Posts: 379
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Post by brin on Apr 6, 2016 22:24:18 GMT
Moral question. You earn 1m per year in the uk, from your uk business, (i do not by the way) should you pay tax on the 1m?... or should you employ an accountant to reduce that tax bill.? Please everyone... Its a straight forward moral based question, no guff please about tax laws or loop holes or how its the tory's fault for not doing this or that. SHOULD YOU PAY TAX DUE. Y OR N edit was the qustion marks Of course you should pay all the tax that is due. Absolute no-brainer. That doesn't, of course, mean you should not arrange your finances in such a way as to reduce the tax due. And it's the grey area where one becomes the other that causes all of these questions. The line between tax avoidance and tax evasion. Did you drink a bottle of wine tonight? Smoke a packet of ciggies? No? Then you avoided paying the tax due on them. Thinking of putting money into an IFISA? The only reason to do that is to avoid paying tax on your savings. When you bought a new car, did you buy a more economical one with lower VED? That's all tax avoidance, just as much as investing offshore can be. sorry.. no.. you are using analogies.. try to answer the question... read again and answer y or n please.... do not answer if you cannot.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Apr 7, 2016 6:55:32 GMT
Did you read the first line of my reply?
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Post by lb on Apr 7, 2016 12:02:55 GMT
Moral question. You earn 1m per year in the uk, from your uk business, (i do not by the way) should you pay tax on the 1m?... or should you employ an accountant to reduce that tax bill.? Please everyone... Its a straight forward moral based question, no guff please about tax laws or loop holes or how its the tory's fault for not doing this or that. SHOULD YOU PAY TAX DUE. Y OR N edit was the qustion marks dont hate the player hate the game all tax required under law should be paid. no doubt. all directors have duties to their shareholders to maximize profits and that includes financial planning to reduce tax if it is cost effective your question is therefore completely misconceived
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toffeeboy
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Post by toffeeboy on Apr 7, 2016 14:12:23 GMT
Moral question. You earn 1m per year in the uk, from your uk business, (i do not by the way) should you pay tax on the 1m?... or should you employ an accountant to reduce that tax bill.? Please everyone... Its a straight forward moral based question, no guff please about tax laws or loop holes or how its the tory's fault for not doing this or that. SHOULD YOU PAY TAX DUE. Y OR N edit was the qustion marks The way your question is worded then I say no.
I don't see a problem with employing a tax adviser (I'm an accountant and wouldn't have a clue apart from the basics how to reduce my tax bill). Most of the tax breaks that are available also benefit someone else which is why they are there.
How many people pay into a pension, is that not avoiding paying tax on the money earned when it is earned?
I do have a problem with people moving there income offshore to avoid paying UK tax because they can pay less tax elsewhere.
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locutus
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Post by locutus on Apr 7, 2016 14:32:17 GMT
Moral question. You earn 1m per year in the uk, from your uk business, (i do not by the way) should you pay tax on the 1m?... or should you employ an accountant to reduce that tax bill.? Please everyone... Its a straight forward moral based question, no guff please about tax laws or loop holes or how its the tory's fault for not doing this or that. SHOULD YOU PAY TAX DUE. Y OR N edit was the qustion marks Tax and morals have nothing to do with one another. Morality is relative and what you consider moral, others may consider immoral.
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brin
I am trying to stay calm.
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Post by brin on Apr 8, 2016 22:36:01 GMT
Moral question. You earn 1m per year in the uk, from your uk business, (i do not by the way) should you pay tax on the 1m?... or should you employ an accountant to reduce that tax bill.? Please everyone... Its a straight forward moral based question, no guff please about tax laws or loop holes or how its the tory's fault for not doing this or that. SHOULD YOU PAY TAX DUE. Y OR N edit was the qustion marks Tax and morals have nothing to do with one another. Morality is relative and what you consider moral, others may consider immoral. locotus.. i disagree..If tax and morals have nothing to do with each other, then what are you morally obliged to do..... A. look after your family first and therefore limit your tax liability to provide more income to spend in the home. (all legally of course) or b. Pay more tax to enhance the society you live in. ie.. NHS, PUBLIC SERVICES ETC. Correct morality will not be seen as immoral, by that i mean, it may be legal and correct to use certain tax vehicles to limit your liabilities, but will it be seen as moral or immoral. My answer now being spurred on by the DC position.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Apr 8, 2016 22:43:48 GMT
If tax and morals have nothing to do with each other, then what are you morally obliged to do..... ...b. Pay more tax to enhance the society you live in. ie.. NHS, PUBLIC SERVICES ETC. Correct morality will not be seen as immoral, by that i mean, it may be legal and correct to use certain tax vehicles to limit your liabilities, but will it be seen as moral or immoral. Why stop at tax? Why not donate directly - money or time?
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brin
I am trying to stay calm.
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Post by brin on Apr 8, 2016 22:46:34 GMT
If tax and morals have nothing to do with each other, then what are you morally obliged to do..... ...b. Pay more tax to enhance the society you live in. ie.. NHS, PUBLIC SERVICES ETC. Correct morality will not be seen as immoral, by that i mean, it may be legal and correct to use certain tax vehicles to limit your liabilities, but will it be seen as moral or immoral. Why stop at tax? Why not donate directly - money or time? Well, this is already being done, libraries, swimming baths etc...
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Apr 8, 2016 22:49:04 GMT
Why stop at tax? Why not donate directly - money or time? Well, this is already being done, libraries, swimming baths etc... Well done you.
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brin
I am trying to stay calm.
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Post by brin on Apr 8, 2016 22:51:36 GMT
Well, this is already being done, libraries, swimming baths etc... Well done you. Not quite... donating your time to a good cause does not give you any moral high ground to lessen your tax liabilities.
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bigfoot12
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Post by bigfoot12 on Apr 11, 2016 10:31:22 GMT
Not quite... donating your time to a good cause does not give you any moral high ground to lessen your tax liabilities. You don't need to lower your moral high ground to lower your taxes. As toffeeboy says above, many of the 'loopholes' have been introduced intentionally by government to encourage us (or businesses) to invest in a particular way - to save more or to invest in start up business, for example. The problem is the tax code is 17,000 pages long, and so anyone running a business has to use an accountant to look for the signals from government on how to run the business. "Should I hire more new people" or "pay my existing people more?", should I invest in a new venture?", "Should I try to develop some new IP?", "Should I expand by raising debt or equity?" These are questions that the government has tried to nudge businesses in a particular direction and an accountant can help with that. That is not the same as booking all my sales to the Swiss office via the Netherlands and exaggerating the value created outside the UK.
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