This article by Peter Vaines of Squire Sanders caught my eye over a sandwich at lunchtime last week. I think Peter does an excellent job of setting out the argument as to why there isn’t a place in tax planning for ‘morality’.
Reading the Press recently you would think that the argument is won – Cameron says that tax avoiders are ‘morally repugnant’ and even Jimmy Carr apologized (for what ?). With a bit of reflection I think most will agree that basing taxation on some ill defined moral code rather than hard and fast rules is a very slippery slope. Read the full article for yourself and I think you will see what I mean.
“Tax and Morality – UK style” – the original article appeared in Issue 229, September 2012 of Offshore Investment Magazine.