4 ms·

If taxes were not set too high and states didnt abuse their power, people wouldn't have to resort to such tools.

lolc 8y ago
There will always be cheaters. In this case, rich cheaters. The people "resorting" to Fonseca were the privileged. They must not get any clemency in their transgressions. I'm happy to see there's at least some fallout from all of this. I expected less.
- merinowool 8y ago
  In many countries normal people are getting shafted by progressive tax system, that promotes being poor and they are tired of having their money being spent on people that don't contribute due to their laziness. It is hardly being privileged. Fix unfair tax system and people will not _have_ to use such services.
  - lentil_soup 8y ago
    "people that don't contribute due to their laziness" Care to explain what you mean by this?
    - ionised 8y ago
      He sounds like he's just regurgitating sound bites.
    - merinowool 8y ago
      People who feel they are better off welfare payments than work.
- cascom 8y ago
  100% - except what’s extremely frustrating is the [willful] ignorance of the press in reporting on the issue. There are some people in these documents that should be named shamed (and probabaly prosecuted) but most of the “celebrity” clients seem to be undertaking perfectly legal/normal tax planning activities. E.g. just about every U.S. university invests their endowments through offshore vehicles, and are not doing anything remotely seedy
vidarh 8y ago
If they think they're being taxed too much, they can move themselves and their business somewhere with lower tax rates. The reason most of them don't is because they are benefiting massively from the societies they live in - they just don't want to pay their share for the benefit they received. I'd have much more sympathy if these people actually voted with their feet and left high tax jurisdictions (properly), but the reality is that most of these people want all the advantages without the downsides.
- Steve44 8y ago
  > If they think they're being taxed too much, they can move themselves and their business somewhere with lower tax rates A different way of looking at it would be if they did move themselves and their businesses then we'd be in a worse position than with how they are now. We'd get zero benefit from the business being located in the UK and also we'd also collect less tax. I can clearly see how the lack of fairness can be taken, but implementing your suggestion would be much worse.
  - vidarh 8y ago
    If too many people leave, it would be a sign that the tax system truly is unfair to these people, and in fact this is a regular part of the discourse on tax levels in most countries. My point is that most places have a tax system that is the way it is exactly because it strikes a balance where most people are still willing to live there when they earn a lot without evading taxes. That some decide they don't want to leave, but don't want to pay their taxes either, then does not get much sympathy from me. > I can clearly see how the lack of fairness can be taken, but implementing your suggestion would be much worse. My only "suggestion" is to actually enforce the law and expect people to pay the tax that they are legally required to pay, and if someone don't want to pay the tax rate they're actually obliged to pay, then they should leave. If that causes too many people to leave, then there's a debate to be had about tax levels. But what is truly unfair is to have some people pay their full tax bills while others evade them.
  - ionised 8y ago
    How would we be worse off if these guys aren't paying their taxes in the first place?
ionised 8y ago
Get a grip. Taxes could be 0.1% and these people would still want to avoid paying it.

lolc 8y ago

There will always be cheaters. In this case, rich cheaters. The people "resorting" to Fonseca were the privileged. They must not get any clemency in their transgressions. I'm happy to see there's at least some fallout from all of this. I expected less.

merinowool 8y ago
In many countries normal people are getting shafted by progressive tax system, that promotes being poor and they are tired of having their money being spent on people that don't contribute due to their laziness. It is hardly being privileged. Fix unfair tax system and people will not _have_ to use such services.
- lentil_soup 8y ago
  "people that don't contribute due to their laziness" Care to explain what you mean by this?
  - ionised 8y ago
    He sounds like he's just regurgitating sound bites.
  - merinowool 8y ago
    People who feel they are better off welfare payments than work.
cascom 8y ago
100% - except what’s extremely frustrating is the [willful] ignorance of the press in reporting on the issue. There are some people in these documents that should be named shamed (and probabaly prosecuted) but most of the “celebrity” clients seem to be undertaking perfectly legal/normal tax planning activities. E.g. just about every U.S. university invests their endowments through offshore vehicles, and are not doing anything remotely seedy

vidarh 8y ago

If they think they're being taxed too much, they can move themselves and their business somewhere with lower tax rates. The reason most of them don't is because they are benefiting massively from the societies they live in - they just don't want to pay their share for the benefit they received. I'd have much more sympathy if these people actually voted with their feet and left high tax jurisdictions (properly), but the reality is that most of these people want all the advantages without the downsides.

Steve44 8y ago
> If they think they're being taxed too much, they can move themselves and their business somewhere with lower tax rates A different way of looking at it would be if they did move themselves and their businesses then we'd be in a worse position than with how they are now. We'd get zero benefit from the business being located in the UK and also we'd also collect less tax. I can clearly see how the lack of fairness can be taken, but implementing your suggestion would be much worse.
- vidarh 8y ago
  If too many people leave, it would be a sign that the tax system truly is unfair to these people, and in fact this is a regular part of the discourse on tax levels in most countries. My point is that most places have a tax system that is the way it is exactly because it strikes a balance where most people are still willing to live there when they earn a lot without evading taxes. That some decide they don't want to leave, but don't want to pay their taxes either, then does not get much sympathy from me. > I can clearly see how the lack of fairness can be taken, but implementing your suggestion would be much worse. My only "suggestion" is to actually enforce the law and expect people to pay the tax that they are legally required to pay, and if someone don't want to pay the tax rate they're actually obliged to pay, then they should leave. If that causes too many people to leave, then there's a debate to be had about tax levels. But what is truly unfair is to have some people pay their full tax bills while others evade them.
- ionised 8y ago
  How would we be worse off if these guys aren't paying their taxes in the first place?

ionised 8y ago

Get a grip. Taxes could be 0.1% and these people would still want to avoid paying it.