SO WHO DOES PAY THEIR TAXES ?

Given all of the recent talk about the tax affairs of a distinctly average comedian, one has to wonder why it is that the arrangements entered into by other high earners have not received more scrutiny.

Of course, we frequently hear about the 'excessive' salaries of senior managers in major companies but how often do we hear anything about the much larger earnings of a raft of entertainment and sporting personalities ? For instance, how much tax does Paul McCartney pay on what must be vast earnings from his career as a pop singer ? Then there's Elton John, Cliff Richard, Mick Jagger and many others. What about the grotesque salaries paid to Premier League footballers, at least some of which are undoubtedly arranged through complicated schemes specifically designed to avoid tax ? Why does David Cameron not condemn these arrangements and why does the Treasury not act to close the 'loopholes' that are exploited on behalf of the people concerned ?

If I, or any other ordinary individual, dares to make a mistake on our tax returns we can expect HMRC to come down on us like a ton of bricks; fines and even prison sentences can follow. Anyone who's in normal employment will find tax, and national insurance, removed from their salary even before they receive it; does the same apply to footballers and pop singers ? Of course not.

Ordinary people have very little opportunity to defraud the taxman and even if they find a way, the extent of the fraud is tiny when compared with the vast sums of tax that are avoided by rich 'personalities'. This is not to say that these people are acting illegally but, if David Cameron wants to make a stand about the morality of paying tax, these are the people he should be targeting. Tell the Treasury, and HMRC, to close the ridiculous loopholes that exist purely to enrich these parasites. If they then decide to go elsewhere, so be it; they pay little or no tax now, so we will be no worse off.

Perhaps someone in the Treasury could provide an estimate of the total tax avoided through the operation of these schemes that are apparently legal, while being what the Prime Minister would consider 'morally repugnant'. Publication of the figure might just be enough to stir the government into some form of real action.