Starmer's vision quest

[Stevo 666]

It would be electoral suicide, because the laying the blame on the Tories grace period is coming to an end.

I am still betting in threshold freeze until the end of the century, and being told it's not a tax rise, honest.

It will also be quite amusing to see if they keep on banging on about 'black holes' if theirs turns out to be bigger 🙂

 

[Stevo 666]

The high tax rates of the mid to late 1970s may have spawned the tax avoidance industry through companies like Rossminster, but avoidance by the wealthy was around for decades before then. For example the Duke of Westminster, or the egregious activities of the Vesty family.
But as Income Tax rates, particularly for the wealthy, fell with Thatcher and subsequent governments, avoidance didn't fall, it grew. That growth was fuelled not by tax rates, but by companies earning large sums of money from devising schemes which could be mass marketed to all groups of earners; from multimillionaire business owners to factory workers. Neither was it restricted to Income Tax. VAT, Corporation Tax, National Insurance, CGT and Stamp Duty were all attacked.
What has changed is;
a) Governments being more proactive in tackling avoidance, whether this be with the introduction of broader legislation such as the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme (DOTAS), or the introduction of specific legislation to block loopholes that were being exploited.
b) The Court's view of the transactions which form the avoidance schemes.

I don't disagree with most of that - you see it in other countries where tax rates are/were too high - or are at least perceived to be so.

The other industry that it spawned was the 'go to another country where the tax environment is a bit more friendly' industry. Not just for people, but for business activity, investment etc.

 

[secretsqirrel]

It would be electoral suicide, because the laying the blame on the Tories grace period is coming to an end.

I am still betting in threshold freeze until the end of the century, and being told it's not a tax rise, honest.

Laying the blame on the Tories will not stop any time soon.

Look how long the Tories have been dining out on the 70s

 

[Stevo 666]

Laying the blame on the Tories will not stop any time soon.

Look how long the Tories have been dining out on the 70s

I agree it won't stop, but people are going to stop believing it. Much easier to just assume that it's all leftiebollox from the get-go 🙂