Adam Afriyie is the Member of Parliament for Windsor.
The tax practices of international corporations have brought the debate on tax avoidance and wealth creation sharply into focus. Yet the moral outrage directed at Amazon and others may well be misplaced. If our tax laws are not being broken, then any blame for a failure to collect what is "felt" to be a proper proportion of tax lies firmly at the door of governments and politicians.
Tax evasion is a crime which must be rooted out, but the avoidance of unnecessary taxes is a moral duty for individuals, families and company executives who must serve their shareholders. The current UK tax regime is doing exactly what it has been “designed” to do. The problem lies in the lack of any coherent design.
The answer to the tax avoidance dilemma lies in building a sane tax system which recognises that wealth creation is an economic, social and moral good. The goal must be to allow the least advantaged in society to have the chance to get on in life by creating a stream of new jobs in a dynamic and competitive market. And to create jobs, we must unashamedly back British enterprise. Removing barriers to prosperity is a sound, age-old Conservative ideal, and it must be at the heart of the current economic strategy.
Thomas Hobbes wrote that “riches are gotten with industry”, and if we are to allow industry to flourish, we must heed the argument that it is the role of government to create an environment in which citizens are free to function as they see fit as wealth-creating individuals.
The aim of the tax system must not merely be to raise more money for the Exchequer, it must be to drive enterprise and job creation. A Conservative tax system must at its core promote wealth creation by incentivising those with money to invest and have the confidence to reinvest. A decent job in a thriving business is the best way of helping the least advantaged in our society.
Conservatives and socialists might differ on how government revenues should be spent, but it cannot be disputed that it is private enterprise that creates the wealth in the first place.
Recent headlines suggest that an unwelcome sentiment has crept into the debate on tax avoidance. The legitimate avoidance of tax is steadily coming to be considered as corrupt as tax evasion. Yet the blame for some of the more notorious examples of tax avoidance falls firmly on the shoulders of legislators. If our political leaders were to create a tax framework which recognised wealth and job creation as a moral good, the temptation to smear law-abiding individuals, philanthropists and corporations would evaporate.
The Conservative-led Government has managed to do a reasonable job of reducing taxes within the constraints of coalition. Corporation tax rates have fallen consistently and are soon to hit 21%. The signal to investors and wealth creators at home and abroad is a positive one. The jobs that follow will be welcome. And by raising the tax-free threshold an equally powerful signal is sent to lower paid workers and those seeking to come off welfare dependency.
But there is more to do to realign our tax system to support wealth creation. We must move quickly to a lower, flatter and simpler tax regime if to we are to give the least well-off the jobs, incentives and increased incomes to get on in life. The desire to create wealth, reduce tax and maximise family income is a natural instinct, and it is exactly what is needed to kick-start the economy.
I agree with Adam Afriyie's comments above. I addressed similar issues myself on ConservativeHome earlier this year in my pieces http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2012/07/paying-tax-is-not-a-moral-issue.html and http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2012/08/the-corporate-duty-to-avoid-tax.html
Posted by: Mohammed Amin | 12/08/2012 at 09:05 AM
Rooting out tax evasion, this government is hell bent on encouraging tax evasion.
We have the identity of UK nationals who have money in Swiss Bank Accounts, hidden from the public gaze and the Right talk about clamping down on tax cheats.
At least the Germans had the intelligence to throw out an amnesty to tax cheats, if only the Right had the backbone to do the same.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6f858fd8-33e5-11e2-9ce7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ESRpKXY9
Posted by: matthew fox | 12/08/2012 at 11:12 AM
This is a most thoughtful argument with I totally agree - but with a proviso. UK-based fast growing, wealth and job creating companies which plough every penny into R&D and business development which are forced to capitalise spend on equipment which may be obsolete within the year are taxed on non-existant fictional profits. Meanwhile operations based outside the UK can undercut them, using artificial transfer pricing, royalties and intra-company loans at unrealistic rates to wipe out any UK tax bill. I once shared responsibility for helping set the policies of a long-established UK-based multi-national, including justifying these to tax authorities around the world. Everyone got about 10% on local sales - but the mix of taxes and intra-company payments to achieve and demonstrate such equity was weird and wonderful. That company, which I was indeed proud to work for, was sold by greedy shareholders with delusions of grandeur and no longer exists. The scale of current abuse (legal or otherwise) and recent collapse in UK Corporate Tax revenues is such that we to be far more robust about addressing the fictional intra-company transfer pricing, royalties and loans of those who make substantial sales in the UK but pay little or no taxes while putting those who do out of business. Given that many, perhaps most, of the jurisdictions involved are members of the EU (e.g. Ireland, Luxembourg or Malta) or are Crown Dependencies (e.g. the Cayman Islands) this need not have to wait for OECD and may well not even need legislation.
Posted by: Sagitariouse | 12/08/2012 at 11:39 AM
Afriye is right but notwithstanding this consumer power used against large multinational corporations is always a good thing as it prevents them from becoming too powerful or arrogant.
I get the impression that some Tories do not like this and seek to stop it, which they can't of course!
Posted by: belby la farge | 12/08/2012 at 12:19 PM
"Conservatives and socialists might differ on how government revenues should be spent, but it cannot be disputed that it is private enterprise that creates the wealth in the first place."
It certainly can be disputed. This idea might be common on the right, but it's ridiculous. When several industries were nationalised by the Attlee government, did they instantly go from creating wealth to not overnight? Even if everything continued exactly as before, merely because they are legally owned by the state they suddenly cease to be wealth creating?
The fact that companies create wealth is not shown by the fact that they pay taxes and staff salaries. That money all comes from consumers buying their products after all, as far as money goes the companies merely shuffle it around. They create wealth because they add value: the goods they produce, or the services they provide, are worth more to the people who buy them than the money spent in salaries and infrastructure costs by the company. Most of us agree these days that the state shouldn't generally be in the business of producing goods, but it provides plenty of services. Schools create wealth for example, because the education each teacher provides is worth more than the salary of that teacher. The question of whether it's the state or a private company that owns the school is immaterial. Wealth is created all across the economy.
Posted by: Bob3142 | 12/08/2012 at 02:39 PM
What is wealth creation? Not the same as making money. Those who make a fortune trading on the stock market are not creating wealth, nor are banks which charge interest on money that does not belong to them. Such profits ought to be heavily taxed.
Certainly if tax avoidance is legal, then it is the law that needs to be changed.
Posted by: Donald Burling | 12/09/2012 at 03:37 PM
If it is clear no one can stop it then a different tax system should be implemented. I advise on tax and it is clear that it is the moral duty of a tax adviser to help save a client tax.
Does anyone have anything constructive to say about how to stop these companies avoiding tax at the expense of uk based companies who could start doing the same.
Posted by: Peter Gladstone | 12/10/2012 at 10:08 PM
There are few problems in the world that economic prosperity cannot help solve. Yet the engines of that prosperity are under fierce attack. The forces that seek power over others have gained the upper hand against those that seek freedom. By harming wealth creation, they cause even more strain on society.
Posted by: Wealth Creation | 12/17/2012 at 07:14 AM
The tax practices of international corporations have brought the debate on tax avoidance and wealth creation sharply into focus. Yet the moral outrage directed at Amazon and others may well be misplaced.
Posted by: matawan income tax services | 02/09/2013 at 02:14 PM
Landlords are the ones who are notorious in tax evasions
Posted by: Cayman Islands Jobs | 03/14/2013 at 02:20 PM
Wealth Creation - ConservativeHome | Thinkers' Corner
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