To think its fine for Bono to put his money in offshore tax havens while...

[MelodyvonPeterswald]

he encourages the rest of us ordinary mortals to do more to alleviate poverty and debt. This man deserves to be canonised.

[expatinscotland]

'Could save a few quid by slashing the royal family massivley, but hey, i'm sure we all love to fund beatrice and eugiene to fly around the world doing fuck all.'

And pay for 'royal protection' for Harry's girlfriend.

[cathyclown]

Oh and as for the Queen and the Firm, I often wonder where they got their wealth from. Us ordinary mortals I suppose. But it doesn't sit well with me anymore. Why should moron Charlie own the Duchy of Cornwall. Feck that, what did he do to earn that one.

There should be a (generous) salary/stipend paid to her Maj and her husband and that's that. Everything else is paid for from the public purse anyway isn't it? Bills to heat the house sorry houses and castles etc. I doubt she needs to switch providers every year to ease the bills.

Better stop right there now, or I will get myself in trouble!

[yorkshireyummymummy]

There's a huge difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion.
What HM' s financial experts did with a £10million investment was NOT illegal. Since. She is the Queeen it would be better really if her advisors did not invest in schemes like this in the future for PR reasons but what happened was not against the law. And clinkclink - I do nt know which century you belong to but the untaxed income from a £10m investment would probably have "funded several hospitals " in about William the Conquerors time.
Same with Lewis Hamilton. Nothing illegal. And really I don't see why he should have to pay .VAT when he is domiciled in Monaco.
I think most of us, if we had enough income, would ask our accountant to find ways to pay the minimum tax . I know we have in the past. Nothing in the slightest illegal about it.
BUT - and the point of the thread- is what a fuckimg hypocrite BONO is. He bully's and guilt trips people , trying to help third world countries while building up a mahoosive fortune himself. And I find it counter productive for the charity frankly as if he supports it I won't donate. Awful man who has almost been canonised for his ' charity work' . And trust me, he will write off every expense against tax ( although I'm pretty sure he won't pay his own expenses).

[expatinscotland]

' stop right there now, or I will get myself in trouble!'

For what? Cut them off after her Maj carks it. Wills and Harry whinge and moan about being 'royal' but hey, no one's forcing them to do it. It's not like they'll be at the Job Centre if they jack in the fucking titles. Pissed off we're paying for royal protection for people who aren't even royal, either. If they want to be 'normal' so much, stop taking money from the public purse and live off your own back like everyone else - at least theirs is worth billions.

[BakedBeans47]

Don't get angry at the people avoiding tax, get angry that the system isn't quick enough to close loopholes.

Agreed.

The tax system is too complex with too many loopholes which allow some people to exploit it to their advantage and therefore pay less than the percentage of their income which the spirit of the legislation intends they should pay.

They really should clamp down on these loopholes and avoidance schemes. If the law is you pay a certain %age of your income in tax, that’s what you should pay. Mere mortals like me on normal salaries and PAYE don’t get to work the system to pay less, neither should anyone else

[BakedBeans47]

Why is it that those who have lots of income want to minimise their exposure to tax when they can afford to pay into the system, while the rest of us are imprisoned under PAYE or payroll taxes with no choice in the matter.

Exactly

[Bourdic]

Because something is legal doesn’t make it moral

[Bourdic]

And I’m another one who didn’t set up a company so I could minimise my tax. I didn’t think it was the right thing to do.

[stealtheatingtunnocks]

My DH is a tax lawyer, he's cock-a-hoop that this story has broken. He's really fed up with the loop holes that make a mockery of taxation.

Betty would have done well to have him advising her on her tax affairs. He's terribly pedantic.

[Viviennemary]

They're all greedy selfish wasters at heart. And they'll all probably be fighting each other for a prime spot on Children in Need or Comic Relief. I make sure I give to none of these. And as for the Queen. Money stashed away in tax havens and yet begging bowl out for renovations to Buck House. It's like some third world dictatorship.

[AndNoneForGretchenWieners]

I think most of us, if we had enough income, would ask our accountant to find ways to pay the minimum tax

Sorry Yorkshire love, I would still rather pay the correct tax in return for public services, thanks. I think it's selfish to actively seek ways to reduce the contribution through loopholes.

[ginghambox]

What a load of sanctimonious fuckers. None of you have got an ISA or any other pension. yeah right.

[LineysRun]

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/07/food-banks-warn-of-struggle-to-cope-this-christmas-due-to-universal-credit

It's the stinking hypocrisy.

The Queen and bloody BrightHouse, Ffs. It's beyond Dickens - it's a parody saturated with actual reality.

She's the Head of State and the Commonwealth, and the head of the Church of England. She should know about these things or at least have instructed that nothing should ever be done in her name that would ever look hypocritical.

I've always had a respect for the Queen and DoE but this is just bloody bizarre. BrightHouse Ffs.

[ginghambox]

What has that got to do with the Queen.

[yorkshireyummymummy]

andnonefor
But paying the minimum tax IS paying the correct tax for public services! Do you know anybody who would pay more tax than they need to? Would you offer to have your Tax code reduced to zero? No, of course not. You pay the correct ammount of tax owed on the money you earn. Just as I do. and just as HM (in this case) did. Paying the minimum tax is not breaking the law!

[LineysRun]

What have the Queen's investments, tax affairs and her constitutional position got to do with the Queen? Gosh, I'll have to think about that one.

[DeloresVanTropp]

So why is it breaking news about Lewis Hamilton? The Daily Fail is not even mentioning Ashcroft (at all).

[mathanxiety]

ChinkChink Mon 06-Nov-17 23:01:42
Nail. On. The. Head.

[Bunnyfuller]

Boudic

Exactly - don't breeze around opening hospitals that are on their knees, when you're busily adding to your already huge wealth. No wonder big business keeps voting Tories in and we're scurrying away from Europe looming to close these get outs.

Just because it's legal doesn't make it ok.

[Dobopdidoo1]

I’m watching the Panorama programme right now on catch up.

Even though I agree that tax avoidance is shitty, the presenter Richard Bilson is coming across as a goady fucking twat.

[oldlaundbooth]

The queen and the entire royal family simply couldn't give a fuck about their subjects. End of.

Why Brits are not revolting I'll never know.

Continue with the food banks, zero hours and pitiful standards of living though.

[Dobopdidoo1]

Agree 100% with your post oldlaundbooth

[Smitff]

PAYE is for losers.

That’s what they all think.

Seriously, these people are getting away with paying proportionately significantly less tax BECAUSE of the millions paying PAYE.

I live in the US. Donald Trump’s wealth has been built in the backs of people who struggle to earn a wage, pay full tax on it and barely make ends meet each month. His raison d’etre is to get the country back to a place where he and his ilk can go back to doing this wantonly, brazenly, proudly, raping earth and the people of all that’s in offer for their private gain, and go on to Lord it over everyone else like they’re the guardians of the universe instead of a bunch of mediocre white guys who do nothing except push greed to its absolute limit.

It’s an ugly, ugly world out there. The absolute blinding lack of morality, logic, introspection, conscience - it’s so completely depressing.

[MiraiDevant]

Many issues here. I agree that Bono is sanctimonious and hypocritical.

I agree with one or two, but seemingly not the majority, who say we all minimise the tax we pay. (Pension funds, ISAs, offset mortgages, duty free goods at airports, trusts and wills to minimise IHT. The principle is the same)

It isn't fair that the very rich can avoid so much tax though when they have so much anyway - that's what gets people. A fairer system is needed.

[engineersthumb]

How can you compare pensions and ISAs to avoidance schemes? They were set up with the intent of providing tax relief by the authorities in order to promote a behavior that was desired. Avoidance schemes are not set up to promote a set of desired behaviors! Let's face it tax dodging is wrong, people should be lambasted for it and it's their tax affairs so they are responsible for it legally and morraly.