Labour party revealed as tax dodgers

The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday that the Labour Party avoided paying tax on £4.3 million worth of profits last year, according to the latest figures from the Electoral Commission.

The revelation came the same day that Jeremy Corbyn announced he will fund £500 billion of investment through tackling tax evasion.

Link to the report:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/05/labour-avoided-paying-tax-on-43-million-worth-of-profits-last-ye/


Here is a picture of Jeremy Corbyn criticising tax dodgers ...






Comments

Jim said…
tax avoidance is not tax evasion. its tax avoidance which is 100% perfectly legal.
6:33 pm
Anonymous said…
What about Mr Whiteside's benefactor - Lord Ashcroft?
7:11 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
First of all, Lord Ashcroft is not and never has been my benefactor.

Neither Lord Ashcroft, nor any of his businesses, ever personally give money to me, or to Copeland Conservatives, or to any campaign run on behalf of myself or any other candidates standing for election on behalf of Copeland Conservatives during the period I was PPC.

Lord Ashcroft did raise money for the Conservative party, and did, acting in his capacity as an official of the Conservative party, manage a fund of Conservative party money which gave some support to a large number of Conservative campaigns in marginal seats including Copeland.

However the great majority of the money raised and spent by the Conservative campaigns in Copeland over the period I was parliamentary candidate was raised by the local Conservative party in Copeland from individual residents and businesses based in Cumbria.

I explained this in more detail at the time at

http://chris4copeland.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/funding-conservative-campaign-in.html

Jim, if you will forgive a comment which will appear at first to be self contradictory, your first post above is correct but not right.

It's correct in that there is indeed a distinction between "tax avoidance" which is by definition legal and often perfectly moral, and "tax evasion" which is by definition illegal and you have accurately described that distinction.

It is not "right" in the sense of being reasonable and fair because you are really rather missing the point.

If someone is trying to win votes by making a big fuss about complaining that other people are not paying their far share of tax, and promising to raise an extra £500 million by cracking down on such behaviour, and at the very same time they themselves are arranging their affairs so as to minimise their tax liability to the tune of £4.3 million, then even if the methods they are using are legal there is a sufficient conflict between their words and their actions that it is reasonable for their political opponents to point to this inconsistency

My use of an image of a black pot and a black kettle to highlight the discrepancy between Labour rhetoric about other people's tax affairs and Labour actions affecting their own tax affairs was really quite mild compared with what many people, including plenty of people who are perfectly aware of the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidane, would have said.

I will not accept any more anonymous comments on this thread. If you want to post anything else here, sign your name, or your post will be deleted.
11:21 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
I did really like this Peter Bone clip on the subject of tax evasion, tax avoidance and Labour hypocrisy,

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/876200/Paradise-Papers-Labour-Party-tax-John-McDonnell-Peter-Bone

11:53 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
But for the avoidance of doubt, I am not suggesting that creacking down on illegal tax evasion, or removing some loopholss that permit unreasonable forms of tax avoidance, is a bad thing. In fact sine 2010 the Conservative government has increased tax revenue by almost £160 million by cracking down on tax evasion and losing loopholes to reduce aggressive tax avoidance.

What I object to is not when Labour does the same thing, but when they accuse all businesses and everyone else they don't like of ripping off the poor and failing to pay their fair share of tax while the Labour party does the same thing itself.
12:02 am
Chris Whiteside said…
Here is the Daily Mash on the subject:

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/rich-bastards-using-tax-havens-report-also-claims-bears-defecate-in-woods-20171106138629
12:29 am
Jim said…
Chris,

Point 1 : the loopholes exist because the tax system is overly complicated.

Point 2 : you want to close the loopholes, simplify the tax system, one single bite at it.

Point 3: yes, you have a point condemning one mans actions whilst taking the same action yourself is bad

Point 4: Since governments insist on passing laws no one asked for or wanted, then why try to police morals now??

Point 5: Whats all this about annonymous posts, I dont ever recall making one, well kind of ish, when I could not log in using my kindle so wrote my name and you asked me where my picture had gone.
12:12 pm
Jim said…
^ that was back in the days when Spiney norman was not the hedgehog watching all :)
12:13 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Jim

1. agreed
2. some of the loopholes were put there deliberately to encourage things which ought to be encouraged (which is why some tax avoidance is not in any way immoral or wrong) but in general I tend to agree
3. exactly
4. there is usually at least somebody who asked for or wanted most laws which make it onto the statue book, although I think we have far too many laws
5. Jim, your posts are not anonymous but the second post in this thread was.

I left it up and answered it but am not happy with the general principle of people hiding behind anonymity while making posts like that one.
6:38 pm
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