Category Archives: Tax avoidance

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3 Jun 2016

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Tax avoidance, Transparency

Yet another MP rebellion – this time Land Registry privatisation

” … Sixty-five cross-party MPs sign letter written by Labour’s David Lammy saying sale would enable ‘shady offshore entities to buy up property in this country’. …

… The letter, addressed to the business secretary, Sajid Javid, warns: “We need a government that is determined to take serious steps to make it harder for shady offshore entities to buy up property in this country and also make it harder for them to shield themselves from scrutiny and investigation. The privatisation of the Land Registry would achieve the opposite.” …

…mA report by the Times linked all the prospective buyers of the Land Registry with offshore firms, a matter also addressed in the letter. The privatisation plans have been opposed by a wide range of organisations and individuals. A petition run by 38 Degrees has almost reached its target of 300,000 signatures, and organisations speaking out against the plans include the Competition and Markets Authority, solicitors and media firms.”

http://gu.com/p/4k6v9

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28 May 2016

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Axminster, Tax avoidance

HMRC misses out on £50m of stamp duty from Middle Eastern bank

Because it sued the wrong company … who were their lawyers?

“HM Revenue & Customs has lost its bid to recover up to £50m in stamp duty from the sale of the Chelsea Barracks in 2007.
Three Court of Appeal judges decided that the tax office had pursued the wrong party for the tax.

The purchaser, a firm owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, had used a type of Islamic finance that meant a bank actually owned the property.

HMRC said it was “disappointed” by the ruling.

“The Court of Appeal ruling supports our view that SDLT [stamp duty land tax] is payable. We are disappointed that the decision makes that tax much harder to collect so we are considering an appeal,” HMRC said.

The judges’ decision is likely to reignite criticism of the complexity of the UK tax system, if HMRC itself can be caught off guard. It will also expose alternative financing arrangements to more scrutiny from tax campaigners.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36397905

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26 May 2016

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Austerity cuts, Tax avoidance

Land Registry privatisation – all interested companies involved in tax avoidance

“Breaking: our people-powered investigation shows all four companies hoping to bid on the Land Registry have links to offshore tax havens. [1] The revelations are splashed all over The Times today – this kind of publicity is the last thing the government will want as they consult on plans to sell off the profitable public service. [2]

The Times is a paper the government takes seriously – our investigation will have sounded alarm bells.

The government’s already under fire from hundreds of thousands of us, and even from their own experts. If we contact our MPs about the tax havens revelation, we can make sure the ministers responsible for the sell-off are being dogged with questions from their fellow MPs too. [3] This could be the thing that tips them to back down.

Can you email your MP now and ask them to read the news story and speak out against the government’s plans to sell-off the Land Registry? It takes a few minutes, and there’s some suggestions of what to say.”

38 Degrees

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9 May 2016

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, Corruption, Tax avoidance, Transparency

London tour “Shines Light on Where Billionaires Stash Their ‘Dirty Money”

Kleptocracy Tours:

… “aims to shed light on where the world’s rich and powerful stash their billions.

With some high-end properties in and around London running at the tens of millions of dollars, the city is well-placed to launder illicit funds or park money that is being hidden from tax authorities. In fact, British officials estimate that around $173 billion in laundered money entering the country every year is whitewashed via bricks and mortar — with much of it ending up in the country’s capital.

… Why do so many of the world’s super-rich park their cash in London? Because it’s easy and it works, according to Borisovich.

“This is a place where a company can come, buy a luxurious piece of property, and just put down the name of its director without telling us who is behind it,” he said.

… Why do so many of the world’s super-rich park their cash in London? Because it’s easy and it works, according to Borisovich.

“This is a place where a company can come, buy a luxurious piece of property, and just put down the name of its director without telling us who is behind it,” he said.

“Everything else helps in London as well … I mean this is the best ownership legislation, robust, tested, it’s a cultural center, education center. But first and foremost is the ease with which dirty money can come here and anonymously buy anything,” he added.

The kleptocracy tour debuted in February before the revelations of the Panama Papers — a trove of leaked documents that shed light on a network of law firms and banks that offer financial secrecy and investments in low-tax regimes.

Growing interest in the tour’s outings feeds on the perception that many of the world’s richest are avoiding paying their fair due in taxes.

According to watchdog Group Transparency International, companies based in British territories overseas —former British colonies — own 36,000 homes in London.

“Were all those houses bought using illicit money? Probably not, but the rules create an environment where the corrupt can easily hide,” said Rachel Davies, the group’s head of U.K. advocacy and research.

Activists like Davies have long said that it is hard to get the government to take notice of loopholes in the U.K. ownership laws. That may get easier in the wake of the Panama Papers.

“What’s striking about the Panama Papers is the fact that it really blew the lid off the U.K. being involved in these issues,” she said. “Half of the companies involved in the Panama Papers are based in British overseas territories, almost 2,000 of the professional enablers, accountants, [real] estate agents, that were working with the Panama firm were based in the U.K.”

“The U.K., unfortunately, is complicit in the laundering of corrupt funds,” she added.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tour-shines-light-where-billionaires-stash-their-dirty-money-n567556

Unfortunately, it isn’t only London – launderers are switching their interest to other prime sites in the UK – including Devon.

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1 May 2016

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Austerity cuts, Tax avoidance

Wealth brings its own rewards

… [Sir Philip] Green, the Monaco-based finance expert couldn’t get over public sector waste. “The process is shocking. There’s no reporting. There’s no accountability.” He assured Robert Peston: “You could not be in business if you operated like this.”

In fairness, this was years before Green sold BHS for £1, to a twice-bankrupted entrepreneur with no retail experience, Green’s family having previously extracted £580m in dividends, etc, pre-departure. And the BHS pension fund having somehow acquired a deficit of £571m.

Any minute now, one of those [celebrity] people on Green’s speed dial is sure to come along and explain, to the financially illiterate, how utterly irrelevant are these two unrelated numbers. …”

http://gu.com/p/4tmm4

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29 Apr 2016

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Austerity cuts, Tax avoidance

Was your dad a GI who stayed here? Were you born in this country? You can can claim non-domicile status and avoid UK tax

“Richard Caring, the restaurateur and clothing tycoon, has emerged as one of the major beneficiaries of generous dividends paid by BHS in the early days of Sir Philip Green’s ownership.

The Guardian has established that Caring, the owner of The Ivy and Le Caprice, was handed £93m in payouts from the retailer, which fell into administration this week – his share of more than £422m in dividends paid to shareholders including the Green family. …

… Caring is a UK-born citizen, has a London mansion known as the “Versailles of Hampstead”, and claims hereditary non-domicile tax status thanks to the US origins of his father, a former GI who settled in London after the war. This quirk enabled Caring not to disclose the existence of his Swiss or Monaco accounts to the UK tax authorities, and legally to avoid taxes on his capital held there.”

http://gu.com/p/4tyh8

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29 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Corruption, Tax avoidance

“Vatican auditors close 5,000 ‘suspect’ bank accounts in tax evasion investigation”

“The operation comes after the Institute of Religious Works (IOR) became aware of 544 suspect transactions which raised concerns of tax evasion.

The IOR have previously been caught up in scandal with accounts allegedly being linked to mafia activity, particularly during the 1980s before the Vatican tightened up its financial regulations. …

… Vatican efforts to put its finances in order initially accelerated after Pope Francis’s election in 2013. But an economic reform commission he established has since been disbanded and three of its members are currently on trial with the journalists.

Moves to have all the Vatican books externally audited have also been a start-stop affair.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were appointed in December to do the job by powerful Australian cardinal George Pell, the head of the Vatican’s economic secretariat.

But PwC’s $3-million contract was suspended last week on the orders of a rival department, the secretariat of state, leaving Pell ‘a little surprised.’ ”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3565161/Vatican-auditors- “

Fortunately, there is no proof of the existance of an East Devon Mafia …

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27 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Inequality, Tax avoidance

Tax avoidance isn’t the only problem …

“The Guardian has calculated that Green and his family collected £586m [from BHS] in dividends, rental payments and interest on loans during their 15-year ownership of BHS. Over the same period, the group’s pension fund went from a surplus to a deficit of £571m.”

http://gu.com/p/4tjzf

So, basically, Green robbed the pension fund, avoided tax, got a knighthood from Labour and was appointed “Waste Czar” by the Coalition!

Interestingly, Journalist Will Straw spotted this anomaly in August 2010 when he wrote an article entitled “Philip Green is an odd choice for efficiency tsar” in which he wrote:

“Philip Green is clearly a savvy businessman, but his avoidance of tax raises questions about his suitability:

Earlier this week, David Cameron wrote in the Sun: “Cutting benefit fraud is a no-brainer. That’s why benefit fraud is the first and the deepest cut we will make.” Launching his one-sided crusade there was no mention of the tax gap, which dwarfs welfare and tax credit fraud by a factor of more than 10 to one. Cameron has now added insult to injury by appointing Sir Philip Green – a tax avoider – as his efficiency tsar.

David Cameron’s focus this week on tackling “welfare cheats” has underlined his priorities. The coalition is committed to an ideological programme of spending cuts worth £83bn by the end of this parliament – 60% more than planned by the Labour government. But, as the Guardian reported, there is just £1.5bn in benefit and tax credit fraud – the rest is due to system failure. Compare this with the £17bn on tax avoidance, evasion and non-payment identified in HMRC’s Protecting Tax Revenues report and you get a sense of whether we’re really “all in this together”.

Tax avoidance is not a crime, but it is certainly a poor qualification for taking on a new role as head of an “external efficiency review”. In 2006, using figures calculated by campaigning accountant Richard Murphy, the BBC’s Money Programme reported that Philip Green and his family had saved themselves nearly £300m the previous year living partly in Monaco, where residents do not have to pay income tax. …”

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26 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Spin, Tax avoidance

BHS fall out

“As the clothing chain BHS goes bust with the loss of nearly 11,000 jobs, it’s worth recalling the hand of Sir Philip Green, the man who will share a part of the blame for its bankruptcy.

Green bought BHS in 2000 for a sum of £200 million and controlled it for 15 years, though it was registered under the name of his wife Tina, who lived in Monaco.

When he bought BHS, its pension scheme was in surplus. By the time he sold it – it was in deficit. It is estimated that his family received more than £400m in dividends from the company.

In 2004 alone, Green’s family got a £40m dividend from BHS.

A year later, he collected a £1.2 billion dividend from Arcadia – the group that owned BHS – making it the biggest paycheque in British corporate history. It was more than four times Arcadia’s profits, and Green claimed the company was in great health and BHS had plenty of opportunities to grow.

To add insult to injury, the £1.2 billion payout wasn’t taxed, since it went to his wife in Monaco. The couple were accused of tax avoidance.

All this came after Sir Philip Green was appointed by David Cameron to ‘lead a review of government waste‘, in 2010.

And just a few weeks ago – as BHS teetered on the edge of bankruptcy and a pensions scandal was about to erupt – Sir Philip Green bought himself a third luxury yacht.

By that point it was no longer his concern – he had washed his hands off BHS a year earlier for just £1.

He said at the time:

“The business is handed over in a sound financial position with significant cash balances and banking facilities in place.”

If BHS goes bankrupt, it likely won’t meet pension commitments to 20,000 people. Clearly, Green doesn’t care now.

What advice on spending money did the government get from this man?”

https://politicalscrapbook.net/2016/04/the-man-accused-of-driving-bhs-to-bankruptcy-was-appointed-by-cameron-as-a-waste-watchdog/

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26 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, AONB, Austerity cuts, Claire Wright, Developers/ Development, Devolution, East Devon Alliance, Independent Councillors, Sustainability, Tax avoidance, Transparency

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“Anywhere but Westminster” newspaper column want to hear from us

Worried about the ever-widening democratic deficit in East Devon? Enraged by the secrecy and vagueness of our devolution deal? Fed up with an MP who will not speak about his constituency in Parliament and won’t even live in it? Celebrating the rise of independents at every level of local government in the district? Here is how you get it to a wider audience:

““Anywhere but Westminster is travelling the country to get a sense of British politics away from the Westminster bubble. During this period old fashioned two-party politics has been diminished and a palpable sense of unrest with the status quo has emerged.

For their new series, the pair are back on the road, hunting out radical new politics in some unlikely place. We would like you to tell us where you think they should go?

Share your views in the form linked on the webpage below or get in contact with John Harris (@johnharris1969) and John Domokos (@JohnDomokos) via Twitter.””

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/25/anywhere-but-westminster-where-should-we-go?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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25 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Tax avoidance

Are we REALLY all in it together? Tell that to 11,000 BHS workers

2005:
The retail entrepreneur Philip Green has banked £1.2bn after awarding himself the biggest pay cheque in British corporate history. The huge dividend has come from the Arcadia fashion business, which has 2,000 outlets and spans high street names including Top Shop, Wallis and Burton. It is more than four times the group’s pre-tax profits of £253m.
http://gu.com/p/9d7v

2015:
The highest paid director at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group received a 38% pay rise, to £1.55m, last year as the group cut 2,000 jobs.

The director, thought to be Ian Grabiner, Green’s right-hand man, was paid £1.55m in the year to 30 August 2014 according to accounts filed at Companies House. Total payments to directors rose to £4.22m, up from £4.05m a year before, despite board members dropping from five to three.

The payouts came as sales at the group, which owns the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Evans and Wallis outlets, remained steady at £2.71m but operating profits (before exceptional items) slid to £172.3m against £204m.

http://gu.com/p/49jhg

2016:
Over the past 16 years, the BHS pension fund has fallen from a £5m surplus into a £571m deficit. More than £25m was paid from BHS to its [new] owner, Retail Acquisitions, in the 13 months between the department store’s sale and it collapsing into administration, the Guardian understands.

The man behind Retail Acquisitions is Dominic Chappell, a former racing driver who has been declared bankrupt twice. Chappell owns 90% of Retail Acquisitions, which bought BHS for £1 from Sir Philip Green in March 2015.

http://gu.com/p/4tjvn

Philip Green [domiciled in Monaco] buys third super-yacht and has a fortune estimated at £3.5 billion
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3510128/A-100m-floating-gin-palace-pension-scandal-scupper-Sir-Topshop-Philip-Green-faces-calls-stripped-knighthood-buys-yacht-BHS-teeters-brink-bankruptcy.html

“I doubt if Sir Philip was aware the twice-insolvent businessman’s Retail Acquisitions vehicle would use BHS money to pay off his dad’s mortgage. Or that it would be taking big “professional fees” and salaries out of the business for Chappell’s crew.”
http://www.standard.co.uk/business/jim-armitage-bhs-staff-needed-more-than-chappells-prayers-a3232901.html

“More than £25m was paid from BHS to its owner, Retail Acquisitions, in the 13 months between the department store’s sale and it collapsing into administration, the Guardian understands.”

Guardian

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21 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Claire Wright, Hugo Swire, NHS (local), Tax avoidance

Community Hospitals: the more you raise to improve them, the more rent the NHS will charge …

“Sidmouth GPs are outraged about what they call the Catch 22 on community hospitals: the more the community has raised to improve the facilities, the more the commercial rent will be; so the less affordable it will be for health providers; so the owner (ie Jeremy Hunt) will be required by law to close it down and sell it off as real estate.

Meanwhile Mr Swire is delightfully rattled. Until he started to protest too much most people did not really care where his family’s £250 million income last year came from or how much tax was paid on it. Claire [Wright] is right… this one will run and run.

—
Robert Crick

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21 Apr 2016

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Austerity cuts, Tax avoidance

Fat cats getting fatter

“… A financial elite plunged the country into calamity and effectively got away with it unscathed, while workers suffered the longest period of reduced pay since the Victorian era. Meanwhile public services, social security and secure jobs were slashed. It has become increasingly clear – as the Panama Papers underscored – that a significant chunk of our economic elite simply do not like paying tax in this country.

The problem is that this injustice is met with resignation, rather than anger. While rage at the smaller misdemeanours of the poor – such as benefit fraud – seems easy to stir, destructive behaviour on this far greater scale is discussed like the weather. The rich pay themselves ludicrous sums of money, major corporations avoid tax, sometimes it rains …”

http://gu.com/p/4tg5d

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20 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Claire Wright, Hugo Swire, Tax avoidance

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Claire Wright continues to fight for tax transparency

“LAST week the Echo revealed that out of four local MPs asked about their tax affairs, only one (Ben Bradshaw) answered the questions put. And one (East Devon’s MP, Hugo Swire) wrote an extraordinary furious letter to the paper in response.

While steadfastly refusing to address the queries put to him, Mr Swire embarked on a furious tirade against those of us he sees as intruding into personal issues.

Tax avoidance by big business has been a hobby horse of mine since I campaigned in the general election last year.

I find it shocking that there is one rule for super wealthy oligarchs and multi-nationals – which have the potential to make massive contributions to public services, and another for the rest of us. Last year, despite its monumental profits, Facebook paid just £4,000 corporation tax in this country!

Of course, such financial contributions to the treasury are especially vital at a time of austerity when public sector budgets are subjected to crippling and swingeing cuts.

Those with the least are always hit the hardest when this happens, as they rely more on public services, such as benefits, buses and care, than the wealthy, who can afford cars, private healthcare and have access to plenty of cash.

I organised a demonstration against aggressive tax avoidance outside the Sidmouth Conservative club, in February, where Mr Swire often holds his surgeries.

I also lodged a motion (which the Devon County Council Conservative leadership hopes they have kicked into the long grass) aimed at clamping down on tax avoidance by county council contractors.

The final debate on this will be on May 12 at full council.

Mr Swire dislikes that the prime minister and chancellor have published their tax returns, describing the move as a “difficult precedent.”

But Mr Swire, didn’t the prime minister publicly pillory Jimmy Carr for his tax avoidance activities?

And doesn’t Mr Osborne say how keen he is to get big business such as Facebook and Google to pay tax more equivalent to their income generated in the UK?

Mr Swire suggests that if MPs are to be asked about their tax affairs people in public life should also be scrutinised, including newspaper editors, BBC journalists and councillors.

This is perhaps an issue for discussion, however, as I see it there are two big distinctions between MPs and newspaper editors or BBC journalists. A journalist’s job is to report the news. But an MP’s job is to make decisions, pass laws and act for their constituents. They are in a position of trust and are paid very well for that position… with money from the British taxpayer.

The taxpayers who pay the East Devon MP’s generous salary deserve a bit of openness about his tax affairs, now the public interest has understandably rocketed in the ongoing scandal that is tax avoidance.”

No doubt we haven’t heard the last of this story.
http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/letter-Claire-Wright-right-MPs-reveal-tax-returns/story-29143814-detail/story.html

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19 Apr 2016

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Inequality, Tax avoidance

HMRC to stop collecting data on richest one per cent

“Institute for Fiscal Studies warns about accumulation of wealth by top 1% and says HMRC proposals to stop collecting data would create misleading picture:

Proposals by the UK government to stop collecting information showing how the wealthy pass on their assets from one generation to another have been condemned by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a leading tax and spending thinktank.

The IFS said Britain was in danger of allowing a misleading picture to emerge of its richest families – the top 1% whose wealth is at least £1.4m including the value of their home – that underestimates their wealth.

The warning follows a debate about the assets and influence of Britain’s top 1% of wealthy households following the leak of the Panama Papers, which revealed the offshore holdings of many rich individuals.

The IFS said calculations that failed to include the often complex web of trusts and jointly owned properties that the richest families use to avoid capital gains and inheritance tax would depress the overall measure of wealth.

It said that in 2005 the under-recording and differences in valuation of inherited estates increased the total from £3.4tn to £4tn.

The inclusion of family trusts, jointly owned properties and small properties, which the IFS said were excluded from the standard published data, raised the total to £5tn – 46% higher than the total initially identified by officials.

A special issue of the IFS journal Fiscal Studies argues that the accumulation of wealth by the top 1% has meant the “younger generations are on course to have less wealth at each point in life than earlier generations”.

Adding to a welter of analysis that points to wealth – rather than incomes – providing the biggest split in society, it said inheritances will do little to even out the spread of wealth, leaving younger people from poorer families unable to acquire assets already in the hands of the top 1%.

The IFS said the acquisition of expensive houses, generous occupational pensions and trust funds in offshore havens have helped to cement the wealth of the top 1% for their children and grandchildren.

In response to moves by HMRC to stop gathering wealth data on the top 1%, the report said: “Wealth is a key determinant of wellbeing. It matters to households whether they have enough savings to see themselves through retirement and it matters for how they would respond to economic shocks and to fiscal and monetary policy. So understanding the distribution of wealth matters.

“So it is concerning that HMRC have consulted on discontinuing their publication of statistics on top shares of wealth, which are derived from data on bequests. These statistics have for decades given us the only, albeit imperfect, window into the wealth of the very richest,” they said.

A spokesman for HMRC said: “We will continue to publish statistics on wealth, but we have asked for views on whether HMRC should continue to produce wealth statistics in the way we currently do as the data we use is derived from inheritance tax information. Since 2006 the ONS have issued regular wealth surveys, but based on household assets. We want to streamline this.”

The report’s authors said ONS wealth surveys relied on feedback from households over a long period of time and many respondents had given up filling in survey forms by the time they retired. It also missed out on probate data that documents household wealth when a respondent is deceased.

“We have been learning a lot about the wealth distribution in recent years, especially following the introduction of the Wealth and Assets Survey. But this survey cannot tell us much about the top 1% who hold around 20% of household wealth,” they said.”

http://gu.com/p/4tem2

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19 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Corruption, Scrutiny, Tax avoidance, Transparency

‘One in four executives believes ‘corruption and bribery is rife in UK’ ‘

“More than one in four business leaders believe bribery and corruption is rife in the UK, according to survey conducted by accountants EY.

Twenty-eight per cent of UK respondents said corruption was widespread – an increase from 18% a year earlier – although lower than the 39% average of respondents to the survey conducted in 62 countries.

“Our survey finds that more than one in four executives in the UK believe that bribery and corrupt practices happen here, a worryingly high number in a country that prides itself on its strong corporate governance,” said EY’s Jim McCurry.

Ninety-eight per cent of UK respondents to its 14th annual global fraud survey also said they recognised the importance of being able to establish the ownership of entities with which they are doing business – a factor highlighted in the publication of the Panama Papers earlier this month.

Overall, 91% of the 3,000 senior executives from 62 countries who took part in the survey supported enhanced beneficial ownership transparency.
Last week in Washington, George Osborne and his counterparts from France, Germany, Spain and Italy announced new rules that will lead to the automatic sharing of information about the true owners of complex shell companies and overseas trusts.

The chancellor said the enhancing regulations were “a hammer blow against those that would illegally evade taxes and hide their wealth in the dark corners of the financial system”.

The survey, conducted before the details of 11.5m files from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca were made public, also found that half of all respondents were prepared to justify unethical behaviour to meet financial targets. This was a greater proportion than the 36% that could justify such behaviour to help a company survive in an economic downturn.

The EY report said: “Worryingly, deeper analysis of our survey results identifies that many respondents who are [chief financial officers] and finance team members, individuals with key roles in protecting companies from risks, appear ready to justify unethical conduct. The apparent willingness of these respondents to act unethically when under financial pressure is concerning. Could certain compensation arrangements be encouraging such behaviours?”

The survey found that respondents, though, believed that bribery and corruption did not take place in their own sectors. While 39% globally said they believed it happened in their country, only 11% said they thought it was the case in their sector.

“Bribery and corruption continue to represent a substantial threat to sluggish global growth and fragile financial markets,” the report said. “Despite increased regulatory activity, our research finds that boards could do significantly more to protect both themselves and their companies.”

Respondents in the UK also regard cybercrime as a high risk, with 80% of respondents citing it as a concern – more than elsewhere in the world.
“With the continuing enforcement of anticorruption measures, coupled with recent revelations about the misuse of offshore financial structures, business leaders here need to be focused on securing a deeper understanding of their clients, partners and suppliers. Enhanced transparence is only likely to rise up the political and public agenda, both here and in the rest of the world,” said McCurry.

He said EY, which itself has a tax practice, complied with ethical standards.

EY conducted 2,825 interviews 62 countries with executives responsible for tackling fraud – 50 of them were in the UK.”

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/19/one-in-four-executives-believes-corruption-bribery-rife-uk

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16 Apr 2016

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Claire Wright, DCC, Tax avoidance

Claire Wright’s attempt to tighten DCC’s tax avoidance rules hits the buffers – again

Just remember that Independent DCC councillor Claire Wright has been attempting to persuade DCC not to deal with tax dodgers for several months – long before it became a sexy headline:

“A disappointed councillor has vowed to carry on fighting for changes to crack down on tax dodgers.

Claire Wright’s motion to Devon County Council (DCC), to see companies declare convictions of tax avoidance, or of using avoidance strategies, when bidding for contracts with the authority, went before cabinet on Wednesday.

However, the matter was deferred for a second time, despite cross-party support from Liberal Democrat and Labour leaders.

The motion sought to lower the threshold for when tax avoidance questions could be asked of companies.

If all corporation tax was collected, it is estimated £380million could have been saved in Devon alone.

Councillor Wright urged Conservative councillors to back the motion and act on the ‘modern scourge’ of tax avoidance by wealthy corporate giants.

“That’s money which could be spent on our schools, our hospitals, children’s services and the elderly. All of these services are horribly underfunded and horribly under pressure,” she said.

“It is really disappointing…It would be so easy for the council to do this. It would literally be changing a couple of questions on a questionnaire.”

Chairing the talks on Wednesday, Councillor John Clatworthy told the meeting that the Cabinet Office had stated the current threshold had been set in order to avoid administrative burdens to low value procurements and small businesses.

He added that the office’s current guidance was also being updated and, since DCC was complying with legislation and government policy, he would be more comfortable waiting for its publication.

“In the meantime, I would like to thank Cllr Wright for bringing this motion to us, but no further action will be taken at this stage,” said Cllr Clatworthy.”

The motion will be put before the full council on May 12.

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/vows_made_to_crack_down_on_devon_tax_dodgers_1_4497229

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14 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Hugo Swire, Tax avoidance, Transparency

Comment: “Hugo Swire donor linked to Panama Papers”

… so it is interesting to note that a businessman who funds East Devon MP Hugo Swire has been linked to a company set up in an offshore tax haven.

The MP received a £5,000 donation from a company owned by the head of the family-owned JCB group, Anthony Bamford. In the register of MPs’ interests, Mr Swire declares the donation from JCB Research, based at Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. The company is used as a vehicle for political donations, and director Lord Bamford is one of the Tory Party’s biggest donors. It has emerged he was the sole shareholder in a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.

He dissolved the company called Casper Ltd in 2012, according to documents from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca seen by The Guardian, one of the media outlets studying the leaked Panama Papers. …

… There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Lord Bamford or Mr Swire. …

… Lord Bamford is believed to have given the Conservatives more than £4m personally and through JCB companies.

Old Etonian Mr Swire, 56, Minister of State at the Foreign Office, which comes with a salary of £98,740, also lists donations of:

£3,000 from his relative Sir Adrian Swire, a billionaire businessman and former chairman of the Swire Group, a global transport and trading conglomerate with major interests in the Far East;

£3,000 from John Lewis OBE, a director of the company Photo-Me International, of which Mr Swire was a director from June 2005 to May 2010.

The Panama Papers are a cache of 11.5 million leaked records from law firm Mossack Fonseca exposing the financial dealings of the wealthy.

Mossack Fonseca said the firm had no control of how its clients might use offshore vehicles created for them.

It is right that elected members of Parliament are transparent about their financial affairs, particularly members of the government which formulates tax law. And it is right that they are held to account through questions from the media on behalf of the electorate, and through the ballot box when the time comes.”

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Comment-Devon-MP-s-donor-linked-Panama-Papers/story-29111371-detail/story.html

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14 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Hugo Swire, Tax avoidance

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The 1% and why they pay most tax – nailed!

Following on from Hugo Swire telling us the top 1% (of which he is almost certainly a member) pay 27% of tax, a comment on South Devon Watch Facebook page:

“The only reason the 1% pay 27% of all income tax take is because they don’t pay their workers enough for them to have to pay any tax. All those part-time/zero hours workers on the minimum wage. Sanctimonious meretricious b*****d.”

Not to mention if that 1% paid ALL their taxes we might still have a proper, functioning national health service AND no potholes!

We are NOT in it together and the 99% know it.

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Accountability, Hugo Swire, Mid Devon, Neil Parish, Tax avoidance

Neil Parish gets pompous (and evasive) about his tax affairs too

Note: MP Mel Stride represents a small part of the East Devon area. Mr Parish was an MEP from 1999 to 2007.

THREE out of four Devon MPs would not answer questions about wjhether they have benefited from offshore accounts, the Echo can reveal.

Hugo Swire, Neil Parish and Mel Stride chose not to respond to questions from the Echo about their tax affairs.

It comes after leaked documents showed politicians, footballers and celebrities had benefited from offshore investments designed to avoid UK taxes. Following calls for greater transparency amongst politicians, the Echo asked the MPs if they had ever used offshore accounts and whether they were prepared to publish their tax returns.

But Mr Swire, whose family was listed at 42 in the most recent Sunday Times Rich List, mounted robust defence of MPs’ right to keep their tax affairs private, which the Echo is publishing in full [see Owl’s post below for Swire’s letter].

His family’s business, which owns a stake in Cathay Pacific, has scores of subsidiaries operating from Panama, Bermuda and the British Virgin Isles.

A county councillor has criticised the 56-year-old foreign office minister for failing to answer the questions posed to him and said he should reveal his tax affairs.

Councillor Claire Wright, who represents Ottery St Mary Rural, said: “Hugo needs to be open and transparent about whether he has offshore investments or not.”

Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter, was the only politician in the Echo’s circulation area to respond to all five questions.

He answered “no” to questions one, two and three, meaning he and his family to the best of his knowledge had not benefited from any offshore investments.

Mr Bradshaw said: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant. I have no problem with MPs who, after all, make the laws, being required to publish their tax returns and perhaps the same should apply to our tax-exiled newspaper proprietors too.”

Meanwhile an assistant to Mel Stride, MP for Central Devon, said he was not prepared to make a statement on whether Mr Stride had benefited from offshore accounts at the moment.

The assistant said: “All I can state is he has no offshore trusts.”

The office for Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, did not respond to any of the questions, but came back with the following statement.

Mr Parish said: “This Conservative Government has done more than any other Government to close tax loopholes, a move which I welcome and I voted in favour of these measures.

“All of the items where I have a pecuniary interest have been registered in the Register of Members’ Interest which can be found online.”

Cllr Wright, however, said she believed MPs should be open following the scandal.

She said: “Tax avoidance has been a growing public concern and after the release of the Panama papers, it has reached a point where it is a top story on the news every day.”

“It is beholden on every MP to be open and transparent. They are in a position of public trust if they do have money in off-shore accounts,” Cllr Wright said.

“Hugo is a government minister and as the government make attempts to try and tighten up tax avoidance, the public needs to have confidence in its MPs so we know that they are practicing what they preach.”

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, however said he thought it would be unfair for MPs to have to publish their tax returns.

He said: “David Cameron made a rod for his own back by moralising about the legal tax arrangements of others in the past and was clearly clumsy in his handling of questions about the Panama papers.

“But it would be unfair to start forcing politicians into publishing their tax returns. MPs already have to declare external sources of income, significant shareholdings and so on in the publicly-available Register of Members’ Financial Interests but enforced publication of full tax returns would be an undue invasion of privacy.

“Our politicians’ energy would be far better spent simplifying our labyrinthine tax code instead of pontificating about the tax arrangements of those abiding by the very laws which they have written.”

Our questions

The questions put to the four Devon MPs were:

1. Have you used a tax haven, tax incentive or deliberate means of avoiding tax in the past to your knowledge?

2. To the best of your knowledge has anyone in your immediate family?

3. Have you ever benefited from any offshore investments?

4. Are you prepared to publish your tax return?

5. What are your thoughts on the PM and Chancellor’s connections to the tax havens in Panama?

A letter from East Devon MP Hugo Swire in response to The Echo’s Offshore Tax questions

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/asked-MPs-simple-questions-tax-returns-just/story-29106254-detail/story.html