My goodness, I didn't know the old Limited Company/Dividend thing was still possible - HMRC stopped computer contractors doing it a while ago, IIRC. As a returnee to wage-slavery (albeit better-paid than ever I was when freelance) I'm a bit out of touch.
The wife-making-coffee-for-tax-allowance thing is, I think, beyond the likely ethical boundary of avoidance, but I can't see that it's actually worth enforcing from a cost-benefit point-of-view.
I agree 100% that we need a straightforward, comprensible (and comprehensive) and fair tax system. Of course, we have to define what we mean by "fair" - one of my major gripes with politicians just now, btw. And it's no practical good going after the "rich": there aren't enough of them in the first place and they have the resources to minimise their liabilities.
The thing is, it's not really about "fairness", it's about appeasing the voter groups whose support you need to retain/secure. All the public rhetoric is just politics and we're much worse-off for it. It's not even half-past nine and I'm already angry...
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Re: SE London and taxes
Date: 2010-09-23 08:23 am (UTC)The wife-making-coffee-for-tax-allowance thing is, I think, beyond the likely ethical boundary of avoidance, but I can't see that it's actually worth enforcing from a cost-benefit point-of-view.
I agree 100% that we need a straightforward, comprensible (and comprehensive) and fair tax system. Of course, we have to define what we mean by "fair" - one of my major gripes with politicians just now, btw. And it's no practical good going after the "rich": there aren't enough of them in the first place and they have the resources to minimise their liabilities.
The thing is, it's not really about "fairness", it's about appeasing the voter groups whose support you need to retain/secure. All the public rhetoric is just politics and we're much worse-off for it. It's not even half-past nine and I'm already angry...