Thursday 05 January 2012
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Britain's Con-Dem government bosses went tilting at windmills today when
they tried to sound tough over tax dodging - but fell flat on their
faces.
Quixotic millionaire duo David Cameron and his Sancho Panza deputy Nick
Clegg drew their paper swords against tax abuse and stabbed nothing but
air.
The Prime Minister called for a tougher approach to large companies who use "fancy corporate lawyers" to "endlessly reduce" their tax bills.
He said the government was considering introducing a new power to prevent tax avoidance by big firms and the wealthiest individuals.
Earlier in the day Mr Clegg indicated he would be urging Chancellor George Osborne to introduce anti-avoidance measures in this year's Budget.
Mr Clegg said on BBC Radio 4 that the Liberal Democrats intended to "remain" at the forefront of the battle against excessive executive pay and wanted the Budget to contain measures to clamp down on tax avoidance.
He wanted to target the "wealthy elite or large businesses that can pay an army of tax accountants to get out of paying their fair share of tax," leaving millions of hard-working families angry.
Mr Cameron told a business group at Maidenhead that HM Revenue and Customs had to collect tax in "a fair and business-friendly way."
He said: "They have got to be thinking about being business-friendly to small businesses.
"With the large companies that have the fancy corporate lawyers I think we need a tougher approach."
But Richard Murphy of the Tax Justice Network laughed it off as not even scratching the surface of the big problem. "They are simply misleading the public at large, picking the smallest part of the whole problem and making a big fuss about it."But they are going nowhere near solving the whole problem. They are cherry picking."
He said the country needed a "whole new army" of tax inspectors to tackle the tax gap problem which involves tens of billions of pounds - not just over avoidance, which is legal, but evasion, which is illegal.
tonyp@peoples-press.com
The Prime Minister called for a tougher approach to large companies who use "fancy corporate lawyers" to "endlessly reduce" their tax bills.
He said the government was considering introducing a new power to prevent tax avoidance by big firms and the wealthiest individuals.
Earlier in the day Mr Clegg indicated he would be urging Chancellor George Osborne to introduce anti-avoidance measures in this year's Budget.
Mr Clegg said on BBC Radio 4 that the Liberal Democrats intended to "remain" at the forefront of the battle against excessive executive pay and wanted the Budget to contain measures to clamp down on tax avoidance.
He wanted to target the "wealthy elite or large businesses that can pay an army of tax accountants to get out of paying their fair share of tax," leaving millions of hard-working families angry.
Mr Cameron told a business group at Maidenhead that HM Revenue and Customs had to collect tax in "a fair and business-friendly way."
He said: "They have got to be thinking about being business-friendly to small businesses.
"With the large companies that have the fancy corporate lawyers I think we need a tougher approach."
But Richard Murphy of the Tax Justice Network laughed it off as not even scratching the surface of the big problem. "They are simply misleading the public at large, picking the smallest part of the whole problem and making a big fuss about it."But they are going nowhere near solving the whole problem. They are cherry picking."
He said the country needed a "whole new army" of tax inspectors to tackle the tax gap problem which involves tens of billions of pounds - not just over avoidance, which is legal, but evasion, which is illegal.
tonyp@peoples-press.com
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