Comment: I will be good - eventually

Posted by AccountingWEB PM | on Mon, 21/11/2005 - 09:25 4093 1 comment

By Simon Sweetman

All of you who are reading this of course maintain impeccable professional standards and would never indulge in unacceptable avoidance (as long as you knew it was unacceptable). But, apparently, there are people submitting tax returns who take a less responsible attitude, if only to say with Augustine of Hippo: "I will be good'but not yet." However, the time to be good may be coming.

A small indication was the visit to the UK of Cono Namorato, who leads the IRS's Office of Professional Responsibility. You might, said HMRC, be interested in coming to hear him.

Continued...

Tax Avoidance

AnonymousUser | Mon, 21/11/2005 - 22:18 | Permalink

As I have previously stated on many occasions there is no such thing as tax avoidance acceptable or otherwise. If the legislators are inept at their job then their complex webbs deserve all the abuse they get.
The only reason tax is complex is to con the tax payers. HMRC is constantly saying that if business is complex it is set up that way to AVOID paying the RIGHT amount of tax. Surely the reverse must be true.
Why are successive governments frightened of getting rid of our complicated system and starting again????????????????
We can fly to the moon and destroy our own planet yet cannot come up with a fair system of taxation.
No dis to the IRS but business over here differs quite considerably to business over there.
Why do we look elsewhere for answers when the answer has been on the pages of Accounting and Tax webb for the last couple of years?????
If the level of compliance carries on business will stagnate by 2008. This country needs high-flyers. The high flyers in the states are well looked after. Over here they are normally self-employed, then get bogged down with compliance and eventually get stifled (apart from a few exceptions).
If its not the EU that's telling us what to do it could be the IRS.