Gary Barlow and his OBE...

[Arginald Valleywater]

Not a chance, the Women's Institute would form a bodyguard!!

[max_tranmere]

I'm sure I would pay all my taxes if I was a seven-figure earner. I saw Elton John on TV a while ago and he said he pays all his taxes. I assume Paul McCartney does too, on account of the fact you never hear media coverage claiming otherwise and he also seems to be in Britain a lot. Someone like Ronnie Wood from The Rolling Stones spends less than 90 days a year in Britain to avoid paying any tax. I'm sure if I was a mega-earner I would be more like Elton and Paul than like Ronnie.

[max_tranmere]

I saw Question Time on Thursday and Gary Barlow was being critiicsed by some of the panel and by a lot of the audience. If I was there I would have said "why are people singling him out?". What about Mick Jagger, Philip Green and that Statos guy (or whatever his name is, the guy who owns EasyJet). There are ALL tax exiles and they have ALL been Knighted!

[max_tranmere]

It's funny how people criticise tax-evasion because it's illegal, but more or less think tax-avoidance is ok because that is legal. The motivation and intention of people doing EITHER is the same - to avoid tax. The notion that some people who do one are noble, yet the other is not is crazy. Both catagories of person are the same, they want to dodge tax to line their pockets further. There are many many of these tax-dodge schemes, Gary Barlow and the other two members of Take That who have had it established by a Judge that this was tax evasion rather than avoidance are being excessively criticised as what they have done is the same, in spirit, as those who avoid tax.

[max_tranmere]

Don't peoples tax affairs have to be made public? If you look on the Companies House website it lists everyone who works for every company and what they earn, and what tax they pay, as far as I'm aware. I think the days of all this being secret are over.

[max_tranmere]

A friend of mine is boycotting Starbucks now because of their tax-dodging, and I'm thinking of doing the same. I have considered boycotting Amazon aswell, and it wouldn't just be for their tax dodging- the way they treat their staff is appaling. Many of them have to wear SatNav type devices so the managers know where they are at every mili-second. They can walk up to 15 miles a day, going up and down the enormous warehouses, and they often have to work in extreme heat. The company won't open the doors for fear of theft - apparently. Add to that zero-hour contracts, crap pay, bad hours, no job security, etc. Yes, I'm might avoid Amazon too.

[max_tranmere]

Tax avoidance and tax evasion are different, but the motivation and intent in both instance is the same - to avoid tax. I said in a comment just now how it is absurd if people in society somehow think one is more noble than the other, as one is legal and one isn't. both are about trying to line one's pocket, and to prevent the Treasury getting their hand on one's cash. Had Barlow and the other two members of Take That been class as tax avoiders rather than tax evaders by the Judge, no one would be saying anything - yet what they've done in either instance, and what their intention was, is the same.

[MrTickle]

Speaking of Mick Jagger, I can remember some years ago now that the reason he didn't attend keith Richards daughters wedding was simply because he would of been hit with a massive tax bill once he set foot in the country.

[David Johnson]

No, as far as I know.

If he had hidden his tax arrangement or lied about the facts in order to deceive the HMRC then he might have.

However, he will be getting a big bill because a tribunal has viewed his scheme as aggressive tax avoidance.

[JamesW]

max_tranmere wrote:

> I assume Paul McCartney does too, on account of
> the fact you never hear media coverage claiming otherwise and
> he also seems to be in Britain a lot.


I remember Paul McCartney being asked some years ago whether he would become a tax exile and he replied "no need, my accountant has informed me that I would never be able to spend the money I have got now, never mind the money I am going to earn".