http://www.chickyog.net/2008/12/09/a...ing-the-issue/

What do we call this then? Double standards? Affirmative action for the
rich? Class warfare? Prejudice against the poor?

The black economy is normally associated with dodgy builders or
painters and decorators. But white collar professionals are increasingly
fiddling taxes, according to an MPs’ report today that discloses that 36
barristers have been forced to return £605,000 to tax authorities.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been recovered from lawyers,
surgeons, medical consultants, and landlords under private deals with
the tax authorities.

But this has not become public because none of the white collar tax
evaders have been prosecuted, says the report by the Commons public
accounts committee.

How many benefit scroungers would it take to defraud the Treasury of
£605,000? A damn sight more than 36, I bet. All equal in the sight of
the law, eh?

Where are the adverts warning tax dodgers the government are closing in
on them? Where are the tabloid editorials screaming that these people
are scum? Where are the government ministers? Why aren’t they sitting in
TV studios across the country demonising tax fraudsters? Where are the
chilling threats of invading their private lives or threatening their
children’s wellbeing?

The poor scumbags that are caught committing benefit fraud are paraded
through the media like modern day circus freaks. Nobody ever asks why
they do it. (Well some do but they’re largely ignored.)

Those caught dodging tax? They’re allowed to make secret deals with the
Treasury and swan on down the road. Is anybody asking why they do it? I
rather doubt it’s to feed the kids or get out of a damp flat.

Tax evasion, avoidance, dodging or whatever you want to call it costs
the country vastly more than benefit fraud. The government lumps the
benefit fraud with payment errors to make the number sound bigger. And
it’s an exact figure. So clued in are they to the losses through
non-payment of tax that the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs puts the
estimate at between £10 billion and £40 billion. A £30 billion margin of
error. I mean, Jesus.

It would take every dole fraudster and benefit payment incompetent in
the country four years to match the bottom figure. Or somewhere around
16 years if they’re going to be ambitious and go for the £40 billion
jackpot.

And guess what? They’re closing 90 tax offices. How’s that for
prioritising? It almost makes you wonder if the government’s fuss about
the money lost through benefit fraud is really the issue.

That they’re prepared to tolerate theft on a far, far grander scale by
the Greater Good, the implication is that all these threats and
demonisation is rather about teaching the lower orders to watch their
backs and know their place. You can, in other words, stick your
class-free society.

Now, where’s the outrage?

Update @ 4.30pm: The vacuous Five Live Drive have just done a facile
segment on this. Guess which group of tax dodgers they sent their
reporter out to track down. You’ll be less than amazed to hear it wasn’t
lawyers, surgeons or medical consultants. No, it was your legendary
dodgy builder. The egregious Peter Allen even did his best stereotypical
cockney wideboy impression as well.

x-no-archive: yes

On Dec 11, 12:30 am, firemonkey <firemon> wrote:
[..]
> How many benefit scroungers would it take to defraud the Treasury of
> £605,000? A damn sight more than 36, I bet. All equal in the sight of
> the law, eh?
>
> Where are the adverts warning tax dodgers the government are closing in
> on them? Where are the tabloid editorials screaming that these people
> are scum? Where are the government ministers? Why aren’t they sitting in
> TV studios across the country demonising tax fraudsters? Where are the
> chilling threats of invading their private lives or threatening their
> children’s wellbeing?

The TV and newspaper adverts are aimed at people of low-intelligence,
the sort of people who believe that TV detector vans will catch you if
you don't have a licence, that cops will catch you if you don't pay
car tax and insurance, that UK wind farms actually do anything
worthwhile and that Gordy is experienced enough to save the economy.

Tax inspectors earn many times their own salaries when they target
white-collar fraudsters, but unbelievably stasi-nulab have trimmed
their numbers. For low-level fraudsters they rely mainly on tip-offs.
Even when caught, if newspaper reports are anything to go by, low-
level fraudsters rarely have to repay anything.


>
> The poor scumbags that are caught committing benefit fraud are paraded
> through the media like modern day circus freaks. Nobody ever asks why
> they do it. (Well some do but they’re largely ignored.)
>
> Those caught dodging tax? They’re allowed to make secret deals with the
> Treasury and swan on down the road. Is anybody asking why they do it? I
> rather doubt it’s to feed the kids or get out of a damp flat.
>
> Tax evasion, avoidance,

Avoidance is legal - I do it with an ISA. If the author can't tell the
difference, they're not qualified to discuss the subject.

[..]
> class-free society.
>
> Now, where’s the outrage?
>
> Update @ 4.30pm: The vacuous Five Live Drive have just done a facile
> segment on this. Guess which group of tax dodgers they sent their
> reporter out to track down. You’ll be less than amazed to hear it wasn’t
> lawyers, surgeons or medical consultants. No, it was your legendary
> dodgy builder. The egregious Peter Allen even did his best stereotypical
> cockney wideboy impression as well.

White collar fraud is difficult to diagnose, usually way beyond the
intelligence level of the fraud squad - and they're supposed to be the
'experts'. What chance has a low-budget TV series got of spotting
fraud that the experts can't? They're just producing light
entertainment

Evil Nigel