Does anybody here take the Greens seriously?

[Dorset Boy]

I didn't mean "most" in terms of people, I meant most in terms of £


Oh so that's OK then.

Er... yes?

True. I think many people would feel that if you have citizenship of a country that you should pay your fair share of tax rather than moving to Monaco.

I have Irish and UK citizenship by dint of my mother being born in Ireland. I have never lived there. Should I be paying Irish tax as well as UK tax?
My son has UK, Irish and australian citizenships. He lived and worked in Australia for 9 months. Should he pay tax to all 3 countries?

 

[icowden]

I have Irish and UK citizenship by dint of my mother being born in Ireland. I have never lived there. Should I be paying Irish tax as well as UK tax?
My son has UK, Irish and australian citizenships. He lived and worked in Australia for 9 months. Should he pay tax to all 3 countries?

Yes. You pay tax on your income when making money in that country.

 

[Dorset Boy]

Yes. You pay tax on your income when making money in that country.

You answer doesn't make it clear whether, in your view, I should be paying tax in 2 countries and my son in 3.
However, you have highlighted something

You pay tax on your income when making money in that country

The offshore held investments may not be making money in the UK......................
They are making money in a country that has a more favourable tax status than the UK, and are being taxed according to the rules of that country.

 

[CXRAndy]

You should pay tax on the income derived in that country not from overseas income, especially if that overseas money remains offshore.

USA I understand now offer that arrangement for those who purchase the million dollar visas

 

[BoldonLad]

Yes. You pay tax on your income when making money in that country.

Could you clarify what you mean by "making money in that country"?, I am worried I may owe taxes in quite a few Countries where I worked as an employee of my UK employer.

 

[CXRAndy]

According to betting sites
Greens have 60% chance of winning tomorrow

Reform 21%
Labour 16%
Conservatives, Liberal 0.2%

 

[icowden]

Could you clarify what you mean by "making money in that country"?, I am worried I may owe taxes in quite a few Countries where I worked as an employee of my UK employer.

Making money in that country where the company is based or has a permanent base in that country obviously.

 

[Dorset Boy]

Making money in that country where the company is based or has a permanent base in that country obviously.

So you are flipping now from where the individual is based to where their investments are based too?

 

[BoldonLad]

Making money in that country where the company is based or has a permanent base in that country obviously.

getting a little bit more vague now, and, of course, there are intercountry agreements about where tax should be paid.

I am not saying that cheating the tax man is desirable, but, if Governments cannot make rules, without loopholes, it is bound to happen.

 

[icowden]

getting a little bit more vague now, and, of course, there are intercountry agreements about where tax should be paid.

Of course. TBH I was thinking of instances like Amazon.
Estimated corporation tax for Amazon 2020-2024

Financial year	Amazon's global sales $m	Amazon's UK sales $m	Estimated net UK profit if average margin globally is 7.35% $m	Total estimated corporation tax due $m	Converted to sterling at 1.283 £m	Estimated corporation tax paid £m
2024	$637,959m	$37,855m	$2,938m	$734m	£575m	Not available
2023	$574,785m	$33,571m	$2,467m	$580m	£452m	£18.7m
2022	$513,983m	$30,074m	$2,210m	$420m	£327m	£-7.8m
2021	$469,822m	$31,914m	$2,346m	$446m	£347m	£-1.1m
2020	$386,064m	$26,483m	$1,947m	$370m	£288m	£18.3m

To be fair, they seem to have managed to actually pay some Corporation Tax in 2024 and 2025 and the figures above don't include VAT taxes - so the exchequer is taking a fair amount of cash from Amazon, but given that they should be paying 25% corporation tax and they are definitely making a profit, they do seem to be extracting the micturation a little bit.

Similarly, if I'm getting stuck for 40% IHT it sticks in the craw a little bit that Viscount Rothermere paid nothing because he is super rich and "tax efficient".

 

[Dorset Boy]

As I have said for a long time, Corporation Tax doesn't work for multi-national businesses who can manipulate profits between countries in which they do business.
But that's another tangent.
And again we see a flip to now talking about businesses paying (not not) taxes, when the discussion was about individuals and those with multiple citizenships....

 

[Psamathe]

There are of course solutions using offshore havens, but if you want to repatriate the money you will get hit for tax.
Also should you pay UK tax on investments whilst they are held offshore?

In my experience offshore investments are more about growth than income. Taxing growth is always going to be a nightmare as potentially investments can drop in value so what do you do then, at what point would you take a value for tax purposes, etc.

I suspect there would be offshore investments providing income but all mine are growth based and even were I to chose to adjust the funds to an income that would in effect happen by selling small units of the fund (and I'd be taxed on the amount coming into my bank account irrespective as to what has been happening to the fund overall (with allowances, etc.).

 

[BoldonLad]

Of course. TBH I was thinking of instances like Amazon.
Estimated corporation tax for Amazon 2020-2024

Financial year	Amazon's global sales $m	Amazon's UK sales $m	Estimated net UK profit if average margin globally is 7.35% $m	Total estimated corporation tax due $m	Converted to sterling at 1.283 £m	Estimated corporation tax paid £m
2024	$637,959m	$37,855m	$2,938m	$734m	£575m	Not available
2023	$574,785m	$33,571m	$2,467m	$580m	£452m	£18.7m
2022	$513,983m	$30,074m	$2,210m	$420m	£327m	£-7.8m
2021	$469,822m	$31,914m	$2,346m	$446m	£347m	£-1.1m
2020	$386,064m	$26,483m	$1,947m	$370m	£288m	£18.3m

To be fair, they seem to have managed to actually pay some Corporation Tax in 2024 and 2025 and the figures above don't include VAT taxes - so the exchequer is taking a fair amount of cash from Amazon, but given that they should be paying 25% corporation tax and they are definitely making a profit, they do seem to be extracting the micturation a little bit.

Similarly, if I'm getting stuck for 40% IHT it sticks in the craw a little bit that Viscount Rothermere paid nothing because he is super rich and "tax efficient".

Life is not fair, get used to it

 

[icowden]

Life is not fair, get used to it

We rely on government to make it fairer. Part of that is ensuring that the super wealthy don't take the pi$$

 

[matticus]

Life is not fair, get used to it

High quality analysis there