eurealist.co.uk

Adam Smith Institute Blog - Europe’s favourite think tank blog
The present UK government seems insensitive to the rules and traditions which evolved to protect our liberties. This is as evident in tax avoidance as elsewhere. Tax evasion, which means failure to pay the tax due, is illegal. Avoidance, which means taking steps to lower one’s exposure to tax, is perfectly legal. Indeed, for a company you could argue that it constitutes an obligation to protect shareholders’ funds.

Lord Tomlin, in a 1935 case involving the Duke of Westminster, said “Every man is entitled, if he can, to order his affairs so that the tax attaching is less than it would otherwise be.” Despite this and other equally clear legal pronouncements, the current Treasury puts avoidance in the same bag as evasion, and treats it as immoral, using bad law against it.
……
For example, new government rules require advance disclosure of avoidance advice by tax professionals. Forget about client confidentiality; the Revenue wants to know.

What seems to have escaped the government’s notice is that its relentless drive to fill its coffers has sent its coach and six roughshod over yet more of the principles by which liberty is maintained. There are quite a few already trampled in its wake.