I’m not a fan of David Cameron, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister.
Even though he belongs to the Conservative Party that produced the great Margaret Thatcher, Cameron seems to be a bit of guilt-ridden statist with his finger always in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. The policy results are not pretty.
- Cameron has undermined the U.K.’s system of personal retirement accounts.
- Cameron is giving taxpayer money to statist environmental groups.
- Cameron has increased the capital gains tax.
- Cameron is increasing the burden of government spending.
Now I have another reason to dislike Cameron. He just condemned a comedian for legally seeking to minimize the amount of his income that is seized – and then wasted – by the U.K. government. Here are some of the details from The Telegraph.
Prime Minister David Cameron today branded the tax arrangement of comedian Jimmy Carr “morally wrong” after it emerged he was using a scheme which allows the wealthy to pay as little as one per cent of their income. …Speaking at the G20 summit the Prime Minister told ITV News: “I think some of these schemes – and I think particularly of the Jimmy Carr scheme – I have had time to read about and I just think this is completely wrong. “People work hard, they pay their taxes, they save up to go to one of his shows. They buy the tickets. He is taking the money from those tickets and he, as far as I can see, is putting all of that into some very dodgy tax avoiding schemes. …some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong.” …Lawyers for the comedian have…categorically denied any wrongdoing, saying the scheme had been disclosed to the relevant authorities in line with the law. …Chancellor George Osborne has claimed he was left “shocked” after finding the extent to which multi-millionaires were exploiting tax loopholes and vowed to take “action”.
I have no idea whether the specific “tax avoiding scheme” used by Carr is good tax policy (protecting against double taxation, for instance) or bad policy (such as a loophole that creates favoritism for a specific behavior), but that’s not the point of this post.
Instead, this is a moral question about whether people have some sort of obligation to pay extra tax, merely to get some sort of pat on the head from politicians. The same politicians, by the way, that squander the money on varying vote-buying schemes that undermine prosperity and create dependency.
I’d be willing to condemn Carr if I found out he’s some sort of statist who wants higher taxes for everybody else, but then (like John Kerry) takes steps to minimize his personal tax bill.
But I’d be condemning Carr for hypocrisy, not criticizing the idea of tax avoidance.
The United Kingdom has become a bloated welfare state (with horribly depressing implications, as you can read here and here). If people want to be moral, they should strive to pay the least amount possible to this corrupt and wasteful enterprise. The United States is not quite as bad (yet), but the same principle applies.
Politicians, needless to say, will violently disagree with this ethical viewpoint. So we can all expect more taxes, higher taxes, and additional draconian enforcement measures.
The only good news is that the Laffer Curve will prevent these greedy thugs from collecting nearly as much money as they think.
P.S. To get an idea of how the Conservative Party has declined, compare Cameron’s statist rhetoric to Margaret Thatcher’s comments that “there is no such thing as public money.”
[…] As far as I’m concerned, we should applaud both Trump and Biden. Tax avoidance is legal. Even more important, it’s the right thing to do. […]
[…] As far as I’m concerned, we should applaud both Trump and Biden. Tax avoidance is legal. Even more important, it’s the right thing to do. […]
[…] Can you imagine today’s spineless Tory politicians making such statements. Hardly, they’re too busy criticizing taxpayers for not voluntarily paying extra tax! […]
[…] may not have been very good on tax issues, but he definitely complied with fiscal policy’s golden rule for […]
[…] a surprisingly good job on spending restraint, that doesn’t change the fact that Cameron was bad on tax policy and May was a failure on […]
[…] in the wrong direction. Some of the blame belongs to supposedly right-wing politicians such as David Cameron, George Osborne, and David Gauke, all of whom have argued that people have a moral obligation to […]
[…] to be a puerile and shallow hypocrite. I’ve previously shared examples of his government browbeating taxpayers who don’t choose to needlessly give extra money to the […]
[…] a reason for the fixation on tax avoidance, of course. Politicians realize that they need to demonize legal tax if they want to impose big tax […]
[…] irks politicians such as David Cameron in the U.K., who seem to think we have some sort of moral obligation to help finance their vote-buying […]
[…] irks politicians such as David Cameron in the U.K., who seem to think we have some sort of moral obligation to help finance their vote-buying […]
[…] I might agree that David Cameron is “mean,” but I think his cruelty is directed against British taxpayers, not Greek […]
[…] pessimism about the future of the United Kingdom, and I think the current leadership of the supposed Conservative Party is […]
[…] Can you imagine today’s spineless Tory politicians making such statements. Hardly, they’re too busy criticizing taxpayers for not voluntarily paying extra tax! […]
[…] it’s not often that I agree with the timid (and sometimes reprehensible) Tory-led government in the United Kingdom, but they just put the Royal Mail into the private […]
[…] it’s not often that I agree with the timid (and sometimes reprehensible) Tory-led government in the United Kingdom, but they just put the Royal Mail into the private […]
Thanks for all of your work on this site. Kim takes pleasure in participating in investigation and it is simple to grasp why. We hear all regarding the lively medium you give reliable guidelines on this web blog and in addition increase response from other ones on this article while our favorite simple princess is in fact understanding a great deal. Have fun with the rest of the year. You are always doing a splendid job.
[…] withhold judgement on whether the squishy Cameron government actually is doing something good in this area, but I’m glad that there’s at least […]
[…] class-warfare tax hike, or whether they feel they should do something good to compensate for bad tax policies they’re pursuing in other areas, but I’m not going to quibble when politicians finally begin to move in the right […]
[…] in case you think I’m pulling a quote out of context, click here or here for additional evidence of the pervasive statism of the current regime in […]
[…] Notwithstanding David Cameron’s Statolatry, Tax Avoidance Is Both Legal and Moral […]
[…] If you have the statist mindset of England’s political elite or if you work at a bureaucracy such as the OECD, you’ll think this is morally wrong. Not because […]
[…] If you have the statist mindset of England’s political elite or if you work at a bureaucracy such as the OECD, you’ll think this is morally wrong. Not […]
[…] pessimism about the future of the United Kingdom, and I think the current leadership of the supposed Conservative Party is […]
[…] pessimism about the future of the United Kingdom, and I think the current leadership of the supposed Conservative Party is […]
[…] Can you imagine today’s spineless Tory politicians making such statements. Hardly, they’re too busy criticizing taxpayers for not voluntarily paying extra tax! […]
[…] Can you imagine today’s spineless Tory politicians making such statements. Hardly, they’re too busy criticizing taxpayers for not voluntarily paying extra tax! […]
[…] obviously would have upset the United Kingdom’s current bloodsucking political elite, which views tax maximization as a religious sacrament, but it shows that Shakespeare believed in the right of private property. Check one box for […]
[…] Prime Minster David Cameron and one of his deputies have argued that people have a moral obligation to turn more of their […]
[…] even though I’ve made fun of the English for statism and political correctness, I want to share some encouraging excerpts from a story in the UK-based […]
[…] by contemplating the mindset of a government that would post such a sign. We already know that Prime Minister Cameron and some of his senior deputies think it’s wrong to engage in legal tax […]
[…] Prime Minster David Cameron and one of his deputies have argued that people have a moral obligation to turn more of their […]
Just heard on the news today (Friday, 2012/11/02) that Cameron had a revolt, and has lost his bid to allow the amount the EU spends to increase in line with inflation. His back-bench MPs rejected the increase and say the EU must rein in their belt, as are most all European tax-payers.
Great news! Maybe there’s some hope for Brits yet.
[…] Not that Cameron needs any help since he already views taxpayers with contempt. […]
[…] I was wondering whether their use of humor is a defense mechanism to endure the predations of statist politicians such as Gordon Brown and David Cameron. […]
[…] augment the list by including other supposed right wingers of Europe, such as Sarkozy, Merkel, Cameron, and Rajoy, all of whom seem to specialize in betraying […]
[…] I’m glad to see, by the way, that David Cameron is at least saying supportive things about people having the right to self defense. I’ve hammered Cameron for undermining the U.K.’s system of personal retirement accounts, giving taxpayer money to statist environmental groups, increasing the capital gains tax, increasing the burden of government spending, and whining that it is wrong for people to minimize their tax burdens. […]
[…] Prime Minster David Cameron and one of his deputies have argued that people have a moral obligation to turn more of their […]
[…] Prime Minster David Cameron and one of his deputies have argued that people have a moral obligation to turn more of their […]
Britain is top heavy with financial companies that pay no tax. Therefore if they sell an ISA it should be taxable and pensions should have no 28% credit unless the company pays a commercial tax for instance 15% of pre tax profits.
If banks and big businesses in Britain all paid tax our debts could be paid in 20 years but by 2100 we will still have debts because no MP has the balls to make them pay. Say to Barclays if you don’t pay please leave our island.
[…] hungry for some negative commentary on the United Kingdom, you’ll enjoy this, this, and this. Rate this:Share this:PrintEmailFacebookTwitterMoredeliciousDiggFarkLinkedInRedditStumbleUponLike […]
[…] last month I condemned the country’s CINO (Conservative in Name Only) Prime Minister for saying that legal tax avoidance is “morally […]
[…] Cameron has whined that it is wrong for people to minimize their tax burdens. […]
[…] the views of British MEPs and the attitude of the U.K.’s Prime Minister. But that’s because David Cameron is a wobbly statist with no strong beliefs (other than that he should be Prime […]
[…] views of British MEPs and the attitude of the U.K.’s Prime Minister. But that’s because David Cameron is a wobbly statist with no strong beliefs (other than that he should be Prime Minister). Arguing over who’s the […]
I think people like Jimmy Carr will pay taxes if the taxes were low and reasonable in the first place. High taxes makes people to scout for loopholes and they end up paying even less taxes than what they would ordinarily pay if the taxes were low. It is absurd calling the usually law-abiding citizens immoral. It is the law that should not exceed its proper limit and become painful or difficult to follow.