Humbug

There is a big hoo-ha in the papers today about government departments using consultants “employed” by service companies so as to avoid tax liabilities. It apparently skirts close to the borderline between avoidance and evasion.

Humbug. No-one who has ever paid their plumber, builder or car mechanic cash-in-hand has any right to complain. That must mean nearly all of us. The customer saves money and the tradesman ends up with more in his pocket. It is the tax system that is at fault. The piece in the Guardian is by Richard Murphy, adviser to Tax Justice Network. If he never pays cash and absolutely insists on a proper receipt from his tradesmen, he must be one of the handful in the country. I wonder?