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Please cut the ’avoidance, not evasion’ bullshit. This scheme is outright evasion, legalized by lobbying in Brussels against national law. You know that otherwi
by dna_polymerase 9y ago
Please cut the ’avoidance, not evasion’ bullshit. This scheme is outright evasion, legalized by lobbying in Brussels against national law. You know that otherwise you wouldn’t care to point out this nuisance.
- Hello71 9y agoThe commonly understood definition of tax evasion includes that it must be illegal. You are simply appropriating more severe terminology in an attempt to inflate the strawman.
- zimpenfish 9y agoI can't speak for the majority of people but I'd venture that more people would put "morally sketchy and ethically bankrupt tax avoidance" into the "tax evasion" bucket than not.
- matthewmacleod 9y agoI understand the frustration, but I really think this is an important distinction to make. Evasion is solved by rigorously enforcing existing tax frameworks. Avoidance is solved by closing loopholes. They're two different problems—although they share some things in common—and they require two different solutions.
- rectang 9y agoThe reason these particular laws inspire such revulsion is that they are bought and paid for by the fabulously wealthy. The law itself is immoral and illegitimate. Even those of us who are sure that after cutting down all the laws, we could not stand in the winds that would blow then (to paraphrase Bolt)... can feel appalled at such laws, their originators, facilitators, and apologists.
- sooheon 9y ago> I really think this is an important distinction to make [...] they require two different solutions. Agreed. The problem, and the source of the frustration, is that your average poster on hacker news (or average human being on earth) has 0% influence on either of the solutions. It is the mega rich who hold all the power, who have the resources, energy, and clout to play these games. It doesn't really matter how you distinguish evasion and avoidance, both are driven by the same motivations, and where the line separating the two stands in any given jurisdiction is defined less by the qualities of the actual actions, and more by how much the rich have managed to encode into law vs. how safe they feel openly breaking it.
- matthewmacleod 9y agoAn argument, if anything, for open, transparent, and responsible governance. Certainly something that we are particularly struggling with at the moment.
- dx034 9y agoSorry, but why is it the EU's fault if countries create tax incentives? I've read that previously in UK pro-Brexit media but never understood how that can be true. I'm pretty sure that neither the Netherlands nor Ireland were forced to create low-tax regimes.
- literallycancer 9y agoBlame the rich, extol the nation and sprinkle with some EU hate. Guaranteed effect or your money back.
- telchar 9y agoI propose a new word to solve this problem: avoision. This word describes a practice that is in all essences tax evasion but may not be technically found by courts to be illegal, or may be an untested grey area legally. I think it's a nice, cromulent word that we can all agree on.