Pm: We Need a Tougher Approach To Those Who Avoid Higher Tax Rate



Posted: Wednesday, February 08, 2012

by Liz Fletcher
University of Southampton

David Cameron has told small business owners that his Government could bring in legislation at the next budget to stop the rich who avoid higher rate tax by using top lawyers to find loopholes.

The Prime Minister was speaking in Maidenhead at the first P.M. Direct event of 2012. He said the Inland Revenue had a duty to collect taxes in a fair way that was also business-friendly.

'One of the things that we are going to be looking at this year is whether there should be a general anti-avoidance power that HMRC can use, particularly with very wealthy individuals and with the bigger companies, to make sure they pay their fair share.' Mr Cameron said.

Nevertheless, the Prime Minister’s sentiments and stated intentions are unlikely to assuage some critics of the Government, who say that people who avoid higher rate tax are costing UK PLC billions of pounds at a time when the country is broke.

Deputy P.M. Nick Clegg told Radio 4’s Today Programme: “There should be a general rule that you can't play the system, you can't abuse the system.”

Tax expert Peter Lashmar, who runs an accounts’ practice in Hampshire, said that it was admirable that the Government intended to intervene to stop those who avoid higher rate tax from not paying their ‘fair share.’

But he went on to say: “As a person who runs a firm of accountants we have to operate according to the law, naturally. In the past, those who avoided higher rate tax were never on the wrong side of the law, like those who evaded tax. I, for one, will be very interested to read this new legislation, if indeed it materialises.”

To discover more about how to avoid higher rate taxas the law currently stands, simply contact Lashmars: www.lashmars.co.uk
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