If only Mrs. Phillip Green's wife would pay her taxes in the UK

[EggFriedRice]

I have read about Mrs.Phillip Green's wife who lives in Monaco, she is also the owner of Topshop in the UK and has been paid the biggest ever dividend in UK history, over £1 billion pounds, now what I fail to understand is why does she not live in the UK where her businesse's are located? why does she choose to live as a tax exile? Does this not lead many people to believe that she is deliberately trying to avoid paying UK tax? Yes of course we are not stupid, I have destroyed my Topshop card & will never buy another item from Topshop again, I think that Mr. & Mrs. Green are hypocrites, end of

YANBU - it may be legal, but it's completely immoral.

I'm boycotting Top Shop and all other Arcadia shops.

No i don't have ISA s only have premium bonds.National savings and investments.Of course this government can't wait to wash their hands of the Royal Mail though.

No ISAs and pension contributions are not tax avoidance. They are totally above board ways of reducing ones tax bill.

A long time ago, way back in 1936, Lord Tomlin stated (IRC v Duke of Westminster) that every man is entitled, if he can, to order his affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be.

Everyone can have a pension or ISA however Philip Green's approach is only open to the super wealthy.

Perhaps a better alternative would be to introduce draconian tax laws that encourage successful business people to take those sucessful businesses elsewhere.

I am sure that will work out much better

And you don't see any moral difference between someone on a low salary saving a little into a pension so as to not be destitute in their old age, and someone who already has 4 BILLION pounds making sure he gets hold of as much more as possible, Huddspur?

arf at equating ISAs with tax avoidance, now that is ridiculous

Thank god not all business people are like Philip Green.
Someone like Jamie Oliver has put so much back into society.

What the Greens do is perfectly above board so whats the difference?
They are just ordering their affairs so they minimise the amount of tax they pay.

Like I say, sorts wheat from chaff.

it may be legal but it is still a matter of exploiting loopholes

not the same as paying into a pension or ISA at all

Being a foregin national and living in a foreign country are also fairly good ways of reducing ones UK tax bill. Also totally above board.

There is a substantial difference between saving through an ISA or pension funds, and paying 50% of ones earnings to one's wife who just happens to be non-resident.

ISAs and pensions were specifically put in place to encourage savings, and they are limited in amount (don't know amount for pensions, but ISA is limited to something like £5,000 per year).

A nearer equivalent would be if I as a company owner were to pay my dd a salary - effectively for doing nothing - since she would be a lower rate taxpayer.

(Actually, so am I, but ignore that bit )

A lower rate taxpayer, I mean, not paying dd!

"thank god not all business people are like Philip Green.
Someone like Jamie Oliver has put so much back into society"

Ha ha.

That has got to be the most painfully naive post I have ever seen on MN.

One man's wheat is another man's chaff.

The other point - that if we were to boycott Arcadia companies there would be jobs lost - ignores the fact that we would presumably take our money elsewhere, to companies that don't avoid tax so flagrantly.

So, for example, Topshop might close a store, and M&S (don't know if they are righteous, but just an eg) open one.

Thanks for that info on dividends tax MumNWLondon, very interesting!

So most other countries charge a dividends tax of 25% (france & germany) or 30% (USA) but here it is nothing?

Should we write to our MPs?

Ok Nancy educate me who do you think deserves some praise ? Simon Cowell ?

huddspur, my other half owns his own company & it is a very successful business, I could choose to live as a tax exile like Mrs.Green and be the owner of the company,benefit from the profits like Mrs.Green I could be paid a vast amount of tax free dividends every year, but I want to live in the Uk with my husband & my family, I am proud that my husbands business is British and that our customers are British, I can't bring myself to be as dishonest & greedy as the Greens, but then again I would not be making billions in dividends either, it seems to me the richer you are the greedier you are.

EFR - Are you British? What if you didn't want to live in the UK? Would you live here just to keep the general public happy?

EFR- That is your choice it just happens that Mrs Green has made a different one with significant financial reward. Its not possible for the owners and share holders of multi-national corporations to live in every single country they operate in though is it.

My DH business is like Topshop located in Britain, he employs many people, none of the profits from his business go overseas, he could exploit this of course, like Arcadia he could register his business in the Channel Islands I could be the owner & receive tax free dividends but we are not greedy, curlymama you obvioulsy would choose Mrs.Green's way of thinking?

The point, though, curlymama is that Mrs Green is not doing the work - it is Mr Green, who is British, and is resident in the UK who is earning the money.

It would be somewhat different if she were running the company from Monaco - though in practice that might be rather hard, as there are strict limits on the number of days/nights you can spend in the country.

so people can only own businesses in the country they live in then? How do you propose that works then?

She is the owner of the company though, it doesn't matter who is running it. I come across many companies where a company is run by one person and owned by another