Comments on: What should we do about the super-rich? http://blog.prospectblogs.com/2007/07/25/what-should-we-do-about-the-super-rich/ Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:54:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Richard Murphy http://blog.prospectblogs.com/2007/07/25/what-should-we-do-about-the-super-rich/#comment-1848 Richard Murphy Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:37:09 +0000 http://blog.prospectblogs.com/2007/07/25/what-should-we-do-about-the-super-rich/#comment-1848 This is a profoundly disappointing article. The statistics do not match HMRC data (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/table2-5.pdf). No other source is indicated. The conclusion must be that they are wrong, out of date or misinterpreted. That evidence of poor research is compounded by some very obvious mistakes. For example, the US does not "tax citizens on their global income and then negotiate double taxation reliefs with other countries". It taxes citizens on their word wide income and gives them credit for taxes paid elsewhere. But worse, in an article on taxing the super-rich in the UK is the simple lack of undertsanding of how the UK tax system works. We do not "to tax residents only on income they earn from work or investment within the country, or on money they bring in". Nothing could be further from the truth. We tax UK domiciled individuals on their world wide income. Bringing it into the UK, or not, has nothing whatsoever to do with the liability. When the authors of this article so clearly do not undertsand tax it is hard to place any credibility on the conclusions they reach. And no one should. Those conclusions are not credbile. In a magazine that seeks to explore issues of social significance from a left of centre perspective it is disappointing to note that the underlying sentiment of this piece is to conclude that the rich will always get away without paying tax. No attempt has been made to review the significant and growing body of thought on how to tackle this issue in the interest of social justice. This is reflected in the work of the Tax Justice Network (www.taxjustice.net) and in material that can be found on my own blog (www.taxresearch.org.uk/blog). I'm left with three thoughts. The first is why not ask someone who knows about tax to write on the subject? The second is why not explore the real options that are available to tackle this issue? The third is why not set this issue in the context of social justice rather than in the setting of the rewards of the rich? Why not indeed Prospect? After all, is there any bigger issue on the political agenda than the taboo one of tax? <a href="http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/blog/" rel="nofollow">Richard Murphy</a> This is a profoundly disappointing article.

The statistics do not match HMRC data (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/table2-5.pdf). No other source is indicated. The conclusion must be that they are wrong, out of date or misinterpreted.

That evidence of poor research is compounded by some very obvious mistakes. For example, the US does not “tax citizens on their global income and then negotiate double taxation reliefs with other countries”. It taxes citizens on their word wide income and gives them credit for taxes paid elsewhere.

But worse, in an article on taxing the super-rich in the UK is the simple lack of undertsanding of how the UK tax system works. We do not “to tax residents only on income they earn from work or investment within the country, or on money they bring in”. Nothing could be further from the truth. We tax UK domiciled individuals on their world wide income. Bringing it into the UK, or not, has nothing whatsoever to do with the liability.

When the authors of this article so clearly do not undertsand tax it is hard to place any credibility on the conclusions they reach. And no one should. Those conclusions are not credbile. In a magazine that seeks to explore issues of social significance from a left of centre perspective it is disappointing to note that the underlying sentiment of this piece is to conclude that the rich will always get away without paying tax. No attempt has been made to review the significant and growing body of thought on how to tackle this issue in the interest of social justice. This is reflected in the work of the Tax Justice Network (www.taxjustice.net) and in material that can be found on my own blog (www.taxresearch.org.uk/blog).

I’m left with three thoughts. The first is why not ask someone who knows about tax to write on the subject? The second is why not explore the real options that are available to tackle this issue? The third is why not set this issue in the context of social justice rather than in the setting of the rewards of the rich? Why not indeed Prospect? After all, is there any bigger issue on the political agenda than the taboo one of tax?

Richard Murphy

]]> By: bill harris http://blog.prospectblogs.com/2007/07/25/what-should-we-do-about-the-super-rich/#comment-1324 bill harris Mon, 30 Jul 2007 05:19:12 +0000 http://blog.prospectblogs.com/2007/07/25/what-should-we-do-about-the-super-rich/#comment-1324 1--Eat Them. 2--Put big x's on their back so Al-Quaeda will leave the rest of us alone. 3 Tax them Swedish-style. No evidence exists to say that they won't take their capital to cheeper labor markets, anyway; so what are you going to do, race to the bottom American-style? 1–Eat Them.
2–Put big x’s on their back so Al-Quaeda will leave the rest of us alone.
3 Tax them Swedish-style. No evidence exists to say that they won’t take their capital to cheeper labor markets, anyway; so what are you going to do, race to the bottom American-style?

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