Over the last ten years there has been a marked tendency to make tax law discretionary. New tax rules are left intentionally vague to allow the tax man to tax no matter what. Tax evasion is illegal. But tax avoidance...

There has been a lot of a chat recently about how the Local Income Tax will prove to be a new Poll Tax. So I thought I would do a comparison: A poll tax is a tax of a uniform, fixed amount per individual (as opposed to a percentage of income). A Local Income Tax will be an extra 3% on our Income Tax, paid through PAYE. Per Wikipedia: The (poll tax) system was unpopular. It seemed to shift the tax ...

No, really this is glorious. So we’ve a set of definitions, of tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax compliance and tax planning. This is the ex cathedra pronouncement of what those words mean from Il Papa himself. Fair enough, now let us take him absolutely at his word: Tax planning Tax planning is a part of tax compliant behaviour. It is

Duncan argues that a wealth tax might be a good way of raising more revenue post-recession. There is a lot of discussion about how income tax is evaded and avoided. A wealth tax may well face the same problems - however it also offers the potential to tax accumulated wealth that may not have faced income tax. It also widens the tax burden to cover those who may have large amounts of assets but are...

I awoke this morning to the news that the government is thinking of a tax on banks and a tax on car boot sales – taxes from the ridiculous to the sublime. In the current anti banker mood there might even be cheering in the

The top rate of tax could be replaced with a mansion tax or a levy on the richest in society if it is scrapped, The problem with the mansion tax, as was pointed out when Vince first suggested it, is that it’s not so much a tax on wealth as a tax on geography. Property

Charles Krauthammer has an important piece in the Weekly Standard joining those calling for an increase in the gas tax in the US compensated for by an equivalent reduction in the payroll tax. Here’s what he is proposing: “A net-zero gas tax. Not a freestanding gas tax but a swap that couples the tax with an equal payroll tax reduction. A two-part solution that yields the gove...

Lib Dems want to spend today telling us the poorest would be taken out of Income Tax under their plans. They are less keen to talk about how they propose paying for that. Their tax policies include: Higher Capital Gains Tax, at rates up to 50% A £5 billion tax

The Guardian was right in its Tax Gap series to highlight the issues of tax avoidance and evasion. The vast majority of people in Britain pay the right amount of tax, and they have every right to be angered by reports of a small minority of people, including companies, deliberately seeking to evade or avoid tax. As a Treasury minister, I understand the need to make sure the tax system works fairly...

The Conservatives now have two whole policies: giving massive inheritance tax cuts to millionaires; offering tiny tax advantages for marriage*. But what values link these two ideas together? For example, Liberal Democrat plans to close tax loopholes for the richest, tax pollution and tax multi-million mansions will fund tax cuts of £700 for everyone on low and middle incomes (so you can make...