4 ms·

Not sure I'm seeing a difference..

by aantix 11y ago

iand 11y ago
When you put your money into a structured pension plan for your retirement then it's tax avoidance since you are avoiding paying the tax you normally would if you invested it in some other way. Tax evasion is where you break the law by hiding money that should be taxed. Quite a big difference.
- fizzbatter 11y ago
  I think a lot of people (myself included) tend to focus on the "how" rather than the "why". Presumably, big corporations are not only avoiding tax via legal means, but they are creating these legal means to avoid tax. Why do it illegally, when you can bribe/buy politicians, who then pass laws and allow you to avoid all the tax you want. It could be 100% legal (not bribery specifically, but campaign financing for example), but i don't think most people are really okay with it. I'm perfectly okay with someone finding a legal loophole, i am not okay with them blocking said loophole, or introducing new ones.
  - TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
    This is, notoriously, how tax avoidance works in the UK. There's a revolving door between the big accountancy firms that work out tax avoidance schemes, HMRC, which is the UK's IRS, and policy desk's in the Treasury, which define tax policy. HMRC has been notoriously lax in enforcing and collecting tax nominally owed by the largest corporations - most recently Google, which "negotiated" a payment of £130m in back taxes due on £4.6bn in sales. The details of the "negotiation" have been kept confidential, so we have no way of knowing how they were calculated.
Jtsummers 11y ago
Haven't read much about this, but the two potential scenarios (for businesses or individuals) are: 1) Legal: Take advantage of different national/state tax laws, exemptions, etc. and conduct business within those territories or have money move through them in a way that you minimize your tax obligation. 2) Illegal: Just lie about what money you have. Hiding it in offshore accounts and funneling it through intermediary channels when you want to make use of it.
AnimalMuppet 11y ago
You don't see a difference in whether or not you're breaking the law? Even if you believe that the law is disconnected from morality (not totally true, but more true than I would like), breaking the law still means that people with guns can put you in prison. There's a real fundamental difference between having people look down at you as a conniving scoundrel who took advantage of the law, and being behind bars.
- ptaipale 11y ago
  Exactly. It's actually worrying to see so many people who express opinions like "I know it's not illegal but I don't like what you do so you should go to prison, or be thrown out of country, or stripped of assets".

Not sure I'm seeing a difference..

by aantix 11y ago

Not sure I'm seeing a difference..

iand 11y ago

When you put your money into a structured pension plan for your retirement then it's tax avoidance since you are avoiding paying the tax you normally would if you invested it in some other way. Tax evasion is where you break the law by hiding money that should be taxed. Quite a big difference.

fizzbatter 11y ago
I think a lot of people (myself included) tend to focus on the "how" rather than the "why". Presumably, big corporations are not only avoiding tax via legal means, but they are creating these legal means to avoid tax. Why do it illegally, when you can bribe/buy politicians, who then pass laws and allow you to avoid all the tax you want. It could be 100% legal (not bribery specifically, but campaign financing for example), but i don't think most people are really okay with it. I'm perfectly okay with someone finding a legal loophole, i am not okay with them blocking said loophole, or introducing new ones.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  This is, notoriously, how tax avoidance works in the UK. There's a revolving door between the big accountancy firms that work out tax avoidance schemes, HMRC, which is the UK's IRS, and policy desk's in the Treasury, which define tax policy. HMRC has been notoriously lax in enforcing and collecting tax nominally owed by the largest corporations - most recently Google, which "negotiated" a payment of £130m in back taxes due on £4.6bn in sales. The details of the "negotiation" have been kept confidential, so we have no way of knowing how they were calculated.

Jtsummers 11y ago

Haven't read much about this, but the two potential scenarios (for businesses or individuals) are: 1) Legal: Take advantage of different national/state tax laws, exemptions, etc. and conduct business within those territories or have money move through them in a way that you minimize your tax obligation. 2) Illegal: Just lie about what money you have. Hiding it in offshore accounts and funneling it through intermediary channels when you want to make use of it.

AnimalMuppet 11y ago

You don't see a difference in whether or not you're breaking the law? Even if you believe that the law is disconnected from morality (not totally true, but more true than I would like), breaking the law still means that people with guns can put you in prison. There's a real fundamental difference between having people look down at you as a conniving scoundrel who took advantage of the law, and being behind bars.

ptaipale 11y ago
Exactly. It's actually worrying to see so many people who express opinions like "I know it's not illegal but I don't like what you do so you should go to prison, or be thrown out of country, or stripped of assets".