Anyone Else Want To Know What Tax Avoidance Really Costs The Uk

Do you still want Brexit after its cost rising to £500 million a week?

It would still be cheaper than letting the multi-nationals off with Trilions in tax.In 2014 alone, 10Tn Euro of the 14tn Euro EU turnover exited the EU untaxed via the "Dutch Sandwich with a Double Irish" tax loophole.Had that 10Tn been taxed at a very reasonable 20%, that would have yielded 2Tn Euro.If you had to transport that 2Tn in 1 Euro notes from Ireland to the Caymans using 747 cargo jets you would need one landing and taking off every 43 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.Now, no one is going to tell me that went un-noticed from 2004 to 2015.Its like having your head cut off and wondering why you feel faint.This industrial scale tax avoidance was sanctioned and shielded at the very highest levels of the EU.The EU is without question a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is a US conceived, neo-liberal plot and it always has been.A parliament that meets in secret, I mean really, WTAF ?Secret EU law making takes over BrusselsAn unelected law making body... North Korea much?Its chief officials have public disdain for democracy:Juncker "there can be no democratic choice against the European treaties"Schauble "“Elections cannot be allowed to change an economic programme of a member state!”And its ultimate goal is a United States of Europe run by the Eurocrats for the Eurocrats and their 1%er buddies.Kroes and BahamasLeaks: enough is enough?No thanks.

Is the royal family really living off the taxpayers' money?

a lot of people assume this is the case but the truth is far more complicated.in 1760 george the 3rd surrendered most of the monarchies estates to the government  with the exception of a few palaces and properties in return for a set income known as the civil list this was changed back in 2011 to instead pay out a set percentage of the crown estate profits (about 15%) this accounts for upkeep on most the royal household as well as staff wages.the main sources of the queens personal income however come from the Duchy's of lancaster and cornwall (cornwall income goes to prince charles). these are comprised of a collection of estates, farmland and castles that have been turned into tourist attractions and comprise of the majority of royal income. some additional money is also contributed by the government to pay for any diplomatic events the royal family are hosting or foreign trips taken in the governments interests (the royal family do a lot of work to promote British trade and industry abroad). the crown estate is one of the largest property portfolio's in the UK so a small percentage is more than enough to maintain the royal family. the remainder of the crown estate profits goes directly to the treasury.the royal family is under no obligation to pay tax on any of its holdings. however since 1993 the queen has voluntarily paid capital gains tax  on revenue generated by the crown estate as well as both herself and the prince of wales voluntarily paying a sum equivalent to their personal tax incomes. the queen is privately worth around 275 million pounds as well as a much larger amount in assets, however these are held in trust of the nation and the queen has no right to sell or profit directly from much of them.overall the royal family actually generate a rather tidy profit. especially when the generated tourism and diplomatic benefits are factored in. while the royal family are able to avoid a lot of taxes, to say they are taxpayer funded is a bit of a false claim as they are primarily funded by profits from their various estates.

How does one use offshore tax havens to legally save on taxes?

First in this discussion, I use the term tax haven to mean a non-US country that typically has no or relatively low tax rates on income.The US taxes its residents and citizens on worldwide income, so avoiding US tax through a tax haven, typically involves incorporating a business in a foreign country.  It is rarely as simple as just setting up a foreign company; however, because even foreign entities are subject to US tax if the source of their earnings and profits are what is considered Effectively Connected Income, meaning income that is effectively derived through the conduct of business in the US regardless of where that business is domiciled.  You have to move the actual economic substance of the operations offshore also.A tax haven works well with a business structure that involves a significant amount of intellectual property, due to the ease with which you can transfer and/or lease intellectual property to related parties, thus moving the assets that are responsible for creating earnings and profits outside of the US.  Think Google who you have probably heard a lot about in regards to a relatively low effective tax rate.  This type of structure typically involves a concept called transfer pricing where US companies have to establish and often get approval for their method of setting prices for transactions between US based operations and foreign related entities, but transfer pricing arrangements seek to move income to low tax jurisdictions and move costs to high income tax jurisdictions.There is also an illegal element to the use of tax havens, whereby individuals will just attempt to move significant financial assets to non-US territories.  Think of the old "Swiss bank account".  This was a popular although illegal method of trying to avoid US taxation through an attempt to simply hide earnings and profits from the IRS.  The service however has become wise to these methods and very effective at identifying US taxpayers who are hiding financial assets offshore. Trying to employ these methods today will almost guarantee significant penalties (up to 75% of the unpaid tax) and possible jail time when you do get caught.

How much will the UK realistically save each year by not being in the EU?

We are running at a heavy brexit loss even before we’ve left. Those losses are just the start as we will pay a heavy price losing open trade with not just the EU, but most of the world.Brexit is already costing the public purse £500m a week - Source: The Centre for European ReformThe same study shows that the UK economy is already 2.5% smaller than it would have been had Remain won the referendum.The government's Brexit deal will leave the UK £100bn worse off a year than if it had remained in the EU, a study by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research has said. (Brexit deal 'will cost UK £100bn' by 2030)Even the banks show the we already have at least a 2% damage to our economy, for example the UBS analysis. Brexit Has Already Cost U.K. More Than 2% of GDP, UBS Estimates.While you can find many sunny uplands promises from discredited people such at Patric Mindford, or discredited sources like the ERG, the reality is we’re already paying a heavy price for Brexit even before we’ve left the EU.Once we have left, we lose:EU trade: The best possible trade deal (EU membership) with the largest trading bloc on the planet (EU).International trade: The vast array of excellent international trade deals that the EU’s phenomenal negotiators have struck with every major market on the planet.So we lose trade deals with EU as well as the majority of the planet.Q: But wait, aren’t we meant to be gaining international trade deals?A: Another Leave campaign lie. We already have them and we are walking away from them. What they really meant is that the people sponsoring Leave, like Tate and Lyle, Wetherspoons or Dyson want special tax breaks put in for very special products unique to them to make them more profitable. That’s it. It’s about tax avoidance for these companies.Countries that the EU has trade deals with:Here’s the link: How many free trade deals has the EU done?Bottom line is that you have been lied to. They lied on the Big Red Bus. They lied about international trade deals. They lied when they said that “the day after the referendum we will hold all the cards”. They lied when they assured you that voting to leave was essentially remaining but without having to pay membership fees and without fellow EU citizens able to freely live in the UK as easily as we can freely live elsewhere in the EU.Some of the lies told:The misinformation that was told about Brexit during and after the referendum11 Brexit promises the government quietly dropped

What do you know now that you didn’t know before Brexit vote about the European Union?

An incredible amount. I voted to Remain because I thought that the EU was good for business and good for European citizens. But I had no idea how good.Did you know, for example that if you get into difficulty in any country in the world, that you don't need to find the British Embassy? You can go to any EU country's embassy and they will help you because you are an EU citizen.On finance, I had no idea that the UK's contribution to the EU budget was only 1% of its GDP. In fact, I'll go further. Each country contributes about 1% of its own GDP to the EU. It is actually a target figure for the EU to limit its budget to less than 1% of GDP.I knew that, contrary to the tabloid tale, that the EU is democratic. But I hadn't realised just how democratic. MEPs are elected by us, the EU citizens. There is another decision-making body, the Council, which is made up of the democratically-elected heads of the 28 member states. And that so-called cabal of “unelected” EU leaders like Junker is actually democratically appointed by those very council-elected heads and the votes of the European parliament, which we elected.I hadn't realised what a huge supporter of the EU Margaret Thatcher had been for her whole political career, from promoting EEC membership in the 1970s to masterminding closer union in the 1980s and fending off her extreme-right back-benchers.I hadn't realised that Britain's tax-havens (19 of them. Places like Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and Bermuda) had been given temporary opt-outs from new EU legislation which would bring back about £100 billion in tax avoidance.That the British citizens who use these tax avoidance schemes are the owners of the Brexit press.There are so many things that I didn't know which I know now.

What does the European Research Group want?

The ERG is the current form of a large faction in the Conservative Party that has wanted to leave the EU ever since we joined what was then the Common Market. Never mind the economic cost to the UK, they want us out and now. To this end they make light of, often ignore, the problems while promising a future of golden unicorns gambolling on sun-lit uplands. At best they fantasise, at worse they lie.However, an examination of ERG members’ attitudes in general shows a more worrying agenda. Simply put, they are strongly small ‘c’ conservative and yearn for a happier time when there was a place for everyone in society – and everyone must know their place or by God we’ll teach it to them. Not for the ERG are the equality and ideals of One Nation Conservatism. These are people concerned only with power, obsessed by the fear that there’s only so much – money, goods, privilege – to go around and they’re determined that most will go to them, their families and the ERG tribe. They feel entitled either by birth, for example William Rees Mogg, or by personal achievement, as with Priti Patel and Peter Bone. They profess patriotism, but only feel loyalty to their version of Britain. Most are wealthy and hate taking orders from anyone – let alone the European Commission, which represents an organisation far more egalitarian than the ERG can stomach. There is too little deference in Europe.The ERG are probably descended from the land-owning tradition within the Conservative Party, with an injection of Empire fantasists and little Englanders. Essentially, for all the talk of a new UK dealing with the world, the latter terrifies them. The world is full of foreigners who do not always know their place. But at least there’s a chance, the ERG believe, of dominating a few emerging economies.Of course, there’s always America. Many ERG members are Neo-Liberals who’ve formed a pact with the US Alt-Right. For the former the Welfare State is an abomination that must be destroyed. And as for Workers Rights? Why, the workers have no rights, only duties. The rich create jobs, so should pay no taxes. And a trade deal with the US will prove Brexit worthwhile. The fact that we already deal with the US on extremely good terms – courtesy of the European Union – is conveniently forgotten. But the ERG has never been known to let the truth ruin a rousing argument. . . even when talking amongst themselves.What does the ERG want? Power. When do they want it? Now.