to think that 100% of MNers probably avoid tax?

[TravellingToad]

Just watching a frustrating debate on TV about a man who has legally taken advantage of a loophole permitted by the government in order to reduce his tax bill. Some people in the debate are on their high horse.

Now it occurs to me that unless you voluntarily hand back your tax allowance (roughly £10,000 per person) you are in no position to squawk about other people avoiding tax.

The £10,000 tax allowance is a legal tax avoidance loophole permitted by the government that means that you can assign £10,000 a year of your income and pay NO tax on it. 99.9% of people i'm sure grab it with open arms.

Anyone here voluntarily pay the tax instead of accepting the avoidance scheme? Anyone of you phone your accountant and say "I don't want to use that loophole thanks please donate the tax to the government instead" No? thought not.

I expect i'm about to get leapt on now with cries of "oh its so different though because he's so rich and I only earn £20k a year" but where do you draw the line? To the homeless person on the street you are rich beyond their wildest dreams, just as gary barlow seems to you. At what point does it become one rule for you and one for anyone richer than you?

Let the slaughter begin!

Eh?

You seem to have misunderstood the meaning of the word "loophole"

Well Gary Barlow has taken advantage of a loophole which surely the vast majority would agree shouldn't be there

It's got nothing to do with amounts, it's to do with proportion - so no, Gary Barlow should not pay proportionally less tax than a roadsweeper

I'm not sure you understand tax.

Is that you Gary?

oh, and goady as well

It's not a loophole.

It's a tax allowance.

The tax allowance is a deliberate, proactive policy decision implemented and promoted by the government. It is not a loophole nor is anyone using it 'avoiding' tax - the allowance is part of the taxation system.

bless your heart. You must have felt so excited and intelligent when you thought you'd figured something so brilliant out!

But you don't understand how tax works. Go and do some reading and then you can make a more informed statement.

Good luck with trying to explain that to payroll at my work.

I bet you couldn't pay tax on your allowance through paye.

Come on, I know it's not the same thing! I'm not terminally stupid thank you biwi I'm being of course slightly facetious to make a point, but if you're self employed and you go to your accountant they will tell you that you can take advantage of the tax allowance (totally legally) and not pay tax on a percentage of your earnings.

Or if you're Gary you go to your accountant and they will tell you that you can take advantage of whatever this thing was (totally legally) and not pay tax on a percentage of your earnings.

I'm just sick to the back teeth of people on their high horse when I know damn well they "avoid" tax by choosing to accept the tax allowance.

I'm not avoiding tax though.

I'm using my tax allowance.

Even though I don't agree with the OP, she's watching question time like I am and all of the panel (including that twat from the telegraph who thinks gary did right) called it a loophole.

I've missed the Mumsnet debate and only heard question time about it so I also thought it must be a legal loophole

What Gary Barlow did was entirely legal and the same goes for Jimmy Carr. They should both be congratulated on being so shrewd.

If the government really wants to stop its coffers being ravaged by ne'er-do-wells, they might try looking at the benefits system - again!

Oh dear

Allowance v loophole, like comparing apples/pears innit

It is a government endorsed tax relief. It is not a loophole.

Setting up a company so that you invest 1,000s of pounds, Euros or bit coins, knowing that it was never going to succeed so that your tax can be written off is a cynical way of diminishing your tax returns.

Especially when you can afford to pay tax without suffering hardship.

A MW worker, earning slightly above the tax relief threshold suffers irreversible hardship (as do any dependents) should they take your stance.

There is a difference between greed and legal entitlements. There is a difference between an individual demanding they deserve, and a community, or society, agreeing that you deserve.

Society, by and large, in the UK, does not agree that Gary Barlow, and his ilk, is a living saint, who is quite correct in his behaviour.

Oh sod off with the benefit bashing.

Excuse my misnomer - obviously I know there's no such thing as a legal loophole

It's a dodgy thing that's legal that I don't agree with

The thing is, loopholes almost all have a good reason to be there, and once you start closing them people start getting up in arms. And people don't seem to much like the idea of flat tax. So we have loopholes that people can exploit.

How dim are you? Governments want the poorest to pay nothing (personal allowances). Governments want us to save (ISAs). etc.
Governments don't want us creating artificial constructs to rip off fellow citizens.