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I have nothing against companies minimising their taxes in legal ways. I understand the various incentives at play, and it makes quite some sense - all parties

I have nothing against companies minimising their taxes in legal ways. I understand the various incentives at play, and it makes quite some sense - all parties concerned appear to be acting predictably. However: I do take issue with companies minimising their tax in ways that are not legal, but appear legal unless discovered. I haven't the time or knowledge of various countries' tax laws to discover which is the case in this round of leaks, and unfortunately it seems the above two views are conflated in all the articles on the subject I have so far read. It'd be great if this caused some illegally hidden/minimised/shuffled/moved profits to be taxed appropriately, but it is all too easy to covet the rich man's "hidden wealth" and proclaim his methods "cheating" without knowing whether they were simply the same as you claiming your dry cleaning. p.s. The adult in me suspects that is (as with most things) isn't a black and white issue; that the line between "legal tax minimisation" and "only legal so long as you don't find out about this part you have no way of finding out about" is both bent and blurry.

mattmanser 9y ago
In the UK, for example, you have to register any tax avoidance scheme that you're using (as an individual at least). If the HMRC then look into that tax scheme and deem it against the rules, you pay the tax, but without penalty. As I understand it, if you don't register the scheme and you are found to be using the previously grey-area avoidance scheme, then you get done for tax evasion. That's how it's supposed to work at least, but companies seem to get sweetheart deals in these circumstances.
- daxelrod 9y ago
  I'm super curious about how this works in practice. What's the bar something has to meet before being reported? Do decisions made about how to do accounting count? How about decisions when filling out tax forms? (US example: itemizing deductions vs taking the standard deduction).
  - mattmanser 9y ago
    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction

mattmanser 9y ago

In the UK, for example, you have to register any tax avoidance scheme that you're using (as an individual at least). If the HMRC then look into that tax scheme and deem it against the rules, you pay the tax, but without penalty. As I understand it, if you don't register the scheme and you are found to be using the previously grey-area avoidance scheme, then you get done for tax evasion. That's how it's supposed to work at least, but companies seem to get sweetheart deals in these circumstances.

daxelrod 9y ago
I'm super curious about how this works in practice. What's the bar something has to meet before being reported? Do decisions made about how to do accounting count? How about decisions when filling out tax forms? (US example: itemizing deductions vs taking the standard deduction).
- mattmanser 9y ago
  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction