Banks are one of my hobby horses.
The latest revelations about HSBC assisting rich people to illegally evade tax come as no surprise. Perhaps more surprising is the government unwillingness to prosecute rich people and set an example, as they do with benefit cheats. That's all parties who have been in power over the last 30 years.
Newsnight suggested that 35 to 120 billion of tax was being evaded illegally, assisted by banks and tax specialists. Even if the lower end of the estimate is correct, that's a hefty chunk of our current misery eased. If it's the upper figure quoted, our problems would be solved if we could get it back and keep getting it annually.
Should we be hitting the rich harder with much bigger taxes, or is it unfair on those that DO pay their taxes?
Yes, it's very much one rule for the rich and another for everyone else. The richest can quite happily gamble with the debts of the general population without fear or possible consequence, whilst also paying as little as possible back into the system that has been created to support the poorest and least able in society.
Of the ~1100 who have been identified by HRMC as evading tax illegally, just 1 person has been prosecuted(!)
It's always annoyed me that many people get so worked up about somebody claiming an extra few quid a week on benefits while ignoring others who avoid millions in tax. I think attitudes have changed over the last six or seven years but governments haven't yet caught up.
Tax dodgers are far bigger scroungers than any benefit claimants. No matter how talented or hard these millionaires have worked, they would never have got anywhere were it not for the education system that gave them skills, the health system that kept them healthy enough to use those skills, the police that protected them, etcetc.
[insert Elizabeth Warren video here]
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