“At the moment philanthropic donations amount to about £10 billion per year,” Lewis says. “A wealth tax of 1 to 2 per cent on assets over £10 million, which would affect only the wealthiest in the UK, would raise more than double that. Closing tax avoidance loopholes would raise much more than this.”
Philanthropic donations made directly to worthwhile recipients who have been subject to the same level of due diligence that wealthy entrepreneurs would certainly employ will be far more effective than extra tax poured into the wasteful pit that is the U.K. Exchequer. And certainly by more than the factor of two times suggested here for the amount raised. This should be obvious to the likes of Mr Gregg et al.
I am sick to death of people talking about tax avoidance “loopholes”. The opportunities for the wealthy to avoid tax (pensions, VCTs, SEIS and EIS to name a few) are not loopholes but design features of the tax code. People are intended to mitigate their tax by diverting their wealth to things which, rightly or wrongly, the Treasury has decided are beneficial to the economy overall. I use them aggressively. By all means argue that these arrangements should not exist but don’t call them loopholes.
“At the moment philanthropic donations amount to about £10 billion per year,” Lewis says. “A wealth tax of 1 to 2 per cent on assets over £10 million, which would affect only the wealthiest in the UK, would raise more than double that. Closing tax avoidance loopholes would raise much more than this.”
Philanthropic donations made directly to worthwhile recipients who have been subject to the same level of due diligence that wealthy entrepreneurs would certainly employ will be far more effective than extra tax poured into the wasteful pit that is the U.K. Exchequer. And certainly by more than the factor of two times suggested here for the amount raised. This should be obvious to the likes of Mr Gregg et al.
I am sick to death of people talking about tax avoidance “loopholes”. The opportunities for the wealthy to avoid tax (pensions, VCTs, SEIS and EIS to name a few) are not loopholes but design features of the tax code. People are intended to mitigate their tax by diverting their wealth to things which, rightly or wrongly, the Treasury has decided are beneficial to the economy overall. I use them aggressively. By all means argue that these arrangements should not exist but don’t call them loopholes.