A penny hidden is a penny earned…this needs to change, pronto.

People are giving Cameron a bashing, saying he’s a lying toad and he should have come clean about his family history of using offshore tax havens. Yes, he certainly shouldn’t have taken days to admit to it, drip-feeding half-truths and making the whole thing worse.  But before he did that, he hadn’t done anything wrong, tax wise. Fundamentally he totally operated within the law and most of what is being spun as news is merely politics. If anything is ‘wrong’ here it’s the system that encourages stowing away cash.  Especially re: the Panama issue it’s the hiding that stinks.

The very idea of hiding money where the tax man can’t see it, or hiding profits made under the jurisdiction of one tax authority in order to declare your income in a country that doesn’t ask for as big a cut – that’s bang out of order.  But more than that, what is ‘wrong’ is the sanctuary that these tax havens provide for illegitimate money…drug money, crime money, ‘stolen from the country by mentally-unstable despot leaders’ money…NO WAY should that be allowed in my book.

In a crazy world where companies can sue countries, (watch out again for TTP as it is simply lethal legislation creeping in) the laws will be hard to change, but the bits that can change should – and quickly.

‘Double Irish’ tax avoidance scams should be illegal. Moving money made by a corporation you own to another shell company you own in another country, then back again to yet another shell, that should be illegal – and punishable by long sentences.

If you make money in a country, you should pay the tax that is due locally….or as my father always drummed into me “pay Caesar’s things to Caesar…but make sure it is Caesar’s first!”

Open and legal use of trusts, however, is different. If you can prove the source of the money and it is all above board then why not use the process of trusts? Frankly anybody with an issue there  it is merely a ‘jealousy issue’ as opposed to a legal one.

Critically though the people of that country should have more say on what tax monies get spent on. Now HMRC tax returns are at the stage where they tell you what your taxes of been spent on why can’t we have the option of what we contribute to? That would be truly democratic.

Personally, I tell you openly that I don’t want my hard-earned money being spent on weapons and war. I don’t think we need a new high-speed railway – the existing trains are plenty fast enough and sufficiently available – and I do not want my money squandered on 5* dinners in Brussels whilst we take years to decide if bananas should be straight or we should serve Pints or not!!!  I want schools books, hospitals and jobs for young people. Why can’t more of my taxes go to that?

Democratising major government spending is the Holy Grail – that would be when we know we really have a say in how our country is run. Be under no illusions, the version of democracy we have now isn’t democratic at all. When big companies choose how much tax they want to pay, and make the taxman wait ten years to get paid – but the small businessman gets fined 100 quid for doing his return a day late, how is that fair? The ‘laws’ are made by those who govern…and those who govern are the front ‘puppets’ for the string pullers behind the scenes. Multinational corporates and the king pin leaders in Oil, Banking, Pharma etc they pull the strings and drive legislation to their end. Democracy? Pa! It’s an easy-to-wear fa?ade just enough to keep us from revolting!!

Sad thing is, it’ll never get ironed out while the ruling elite look after the Googles more than they look after the little guys. 95% of UK businesses employ less than 9 people. That’s 2.5 million small businesses. If every one of them could hire one person, there would be ZERO unemployment.

All we need is a Prime Minister that gives a %$^&, and we’d be laughing!

Deep down at the root of all this taxation row is the idea that if you make some money, you should stash it away. It’s obscene that there are vast amounts of wealth not being used for anything other than growing in size, when there are so many desperately poor people in the world. I’m all for making money, make as much as you can – but don’t just sit on it, spread it around and put it to work.

What good is a big chunk of money doing anybody when it’s parked up in the Cayman Islands? It’s pathetic. You can’t take it with you! How much do you really need? There is absolutely nothing wrong with being very wealthy indeed…but share it around and use it for the greater good!

At the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got the ‘have-nots’ of this country, with their hand out and their victim mentality.

The way for a better future is not to penalise those who work and earn well, it is to help those who want and deserve help to climb up. BUT that is NOT hand outs to the moaners! There’s no point being down the pub moaning about your lot – if you’re down on your luck, get on a course, improve your skills and invest in yourself. Only by committing to improving yourself can you earn what you feel you deserve. The answer never has been or never will be written on the bottom of a pint glass!

Somewhere in the middle is the entrepreneurial class, the aspirational people willing to put their time and energy where their mouth is. Opportunities are there for those who want them – but we could create so much more if we ditched the ingrained mentality that money is for hiding, not utilizing.

Anyway, must dash. Gotta plane to catch…off for a few days of sun…Grand Cayman don’t ya know!!

*

To find out more about what a business coach does, check out my article Don’t Do It Alone.

If you’d like to have a chat with me, you can contact me here.

https://www.benkench.com/politics/a-penny-hidden-is-a-penny-earnedthis-needs-to-change-pronto/