The Scottish Media Dictionary
Posted on
December 07, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
It’s probably time we had a series of these. So here’s #1.
scandal (noun) – a situation where no known crime has been committed and nobody has been interviewed by the police, yet which apparently contrasts in some way with other situations about which the exact same applies.
(Can often by identified by presence of Scottish Labour MPs/MSPs describing claims of entirely legal activity as “very serious allegations”.)
“The payment is thought to be part of a legal tax avoidance procedure that uses interest-free loans instead of traditional salary payments to limit tax liabilities.
Boswell said: “I am aware of mechanisms within my previous employment contract which utilised the existing tax legislation. This payment agreement is common practice in my previous industry.”
Referring to his criticisms of tax avoidance since being elected, he added: “After finding myself previously employed in such a contract, I decided to utilise my knowledge and experience in my new role as an MP to highlight treasury management issues.”
Since this time he has campaigned against…..somehow campaigning for change wrong? would it be better if he had abstained?
This was before he was elected and was common p[practice. Not illegal under previous Governments. It was up to them to change the laws. I wonder how many Unionist MPs had tax free loans granted to them?
They’re not newspapers, they’re ignorancepapers.
I really would not be surprised if it was the establishments idea of picking off the SNP MP’s one by one in order to discredit them.
After all the establishment must have smarted that having thought they had put the jolly jock back in the box, for the uppity jocks to go and ruin all by voting in so many SNP MP’s
None of the allegations actually hold any water, there is no illegal act been done, but the every so friendly press are given enough to smear and spread innuendo to place doubt.
Don’t be surprised if another SNP MP is subjected to this crap. If I were one of the MP’s I would tell the press to fuck off. For the two MP’s suspended, would suggest the SNP do a bit of homework and satisfy themselves and confirm the bleeding obvious that it is indeed a stitch up and re-instigate the MP’s smartish back into the SNP fold
Don’t allow the establishment to get away with the little wheez
This is likely to be a long list. It would seem that the Unionist reptiles have taken it upon themselves to create a smear a week.
It is perhaps understandable that they take their frustration out in this way because there is zero chance of Kezia or Ruth inspiring voters to back them.
I wonder how long it will be before voters start to notice that nothing ever seems to happen in relation to these smears.
I wonder also which MPs are implicated in ongoing investigations into expenses. Have they resigned the whip of their parties are there daily headlines about them
link to huffingtonpost.co.uk
They do seem to be working their way through the 56 trying to see if they can make mud stick.
Lib Dem peer Lord Purvis of Tweed added that it was “shocking that wealthy people who have broad shoulders should think it’s acceptable to use such dodgy tax avoiding tactics”.
Have to hand it to UKOK Lords and hacks, they sure are a shameless shower of gits, sorry ermined gits.
They’re going to try to pick off the 56 one by one. Perhaps they’ll succeed and the whole lot will end up being suspended from the party.
Then it will turn out that it was all utter bollocks and they’ll all be exonerated and reinstated.
That’ll make the BUM look good, no?
Both toilet paper and newspapers deal with smears.
A handy tip to distinguish between the two – one of them is considerably softer and doesn’t contain ink.
Perhaps they are running with this *ahem* story as a smoke screen for this one.
link to bbc.co.uk
Is that the actual cut out from the newspaper?
If they go after SNP members once they are finished trying to smear their MPs can i just declare i once went on the sick fae work & got SSP when there was nothing wrong with me… MABAD
If they go after SNP members once they are finished trying to smear their MPs can i just declare i once went on the sick fae work & got SSP when there was nothing wrong with me… MABAD
Can we have a game of “SNP baaad bingo”. Oh wait the unionist press are a already doing it.
There is obviously a concerted effort being made by actors of the British state to gather evidence upon each of Scotland’s SNP MPs.
This will be evidence of actions partaken by the individual, whether in life before being elected, or as a governmental representative in any form, from councillor to MP, which can be deemed to be, in even the slighest way, ‘due for oversight’.
This information is either held until ‘needed’, or is to be exposed as soon as possible with the information handed over to the mainstream media, usually with newspapers being first to do the ‘exposé’.
The so-called damaging ‘news’ does not have to be in any way truly serious or career-ending in its scandalousness; it only needs to have been aired and planted into the conscience of the population to be successful: ‘It’s in the papers. It’s on the telly. It must be true!’
The accused will prove their innocence if the accusation is minor or even false. But even so, it may take some time. Meanwhile, the mainstream media churns out article after article attacking the victim.
Classis smearmongering tactics. Propaganda dirty tricks 101.
Do not doubt that the British state is using ‘all means at its disposal’ to ‘dig the dirt’ on the SNP who are looked upon as a threat to its continuing hegemony.
Scotland is – supposedly – better together within a UK state apparatus where its democratically elected SNP representatives in Westminster are treated with hostile intention, deemed a threat, disrespected and demeaned….
Project Fear did not cease on the 19th of Semptember, 2014, indeed, it is an ongoing project. And it will continue, like a tumour in the Scottish body politic. Its excision will only come when Scotland is independent. Until such a time, the smearmongering, plus the scaremongering, misinformation, threats and lies will continue unabated.
Hang on, let me get this right. The daily record – the rag which promotes the opinions of people like Jackie Baillie, Flipper, Gogsy Broon, the Smurph, Neil Findlay and Hilary Benn (aka TORY BENN) – is attempting to point out to its readers that hypocrisy is a bad thing?
This is getting boring
I wonder how many Labour,Tory and Libdem MP’s have Premium Bonds,ISA’S etc?
What a scandal limiting their tax bill!
Heard Fallon on the radio tonight getting ever so excited about the air craft carriers at Rosyth. He said that there was another £8b going to be spent on the Clyde on ship building for the Navy.
I was a bit surprised at that as the the Type 26 was £4b for 13.
What next- SNP MP in ISA scandal FFS! That is another ‘perfectly legal loophole to limit tax’. Members of the public have been known to take advantage of such legal loopholes. I seem to recall the UK Government encouraging such tax avoidance activities.
They are really starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel now- there is a palpable sense of diminishing returns on the press frenzy.
I can’t believe these press sponsored ‘scandals’ have rumbled on for so long- surely it would take police a short time with access to the relevant data to either exhonerate or take these matters to the next level. Its high time Natalie McGarry and Michelle Thomson were either formally charged of a crime or given a clean bill of health.
As alluded to above, this will be a drip-drip affair to work its way through as many of the SNP MPs as possible. But not at the same time. One every week or two to keep the smell of SNP bad in the air, regardless of the name or the supposed deed.
Meanwhile US/UK airstrikes hit Syrian Army base, killing three, which was quickly followed up by an IS ground attack. Co-incidence?
I’ve got the stories sketched out for the next few days.
SNP MPs accused of making money at public expense (relates to recent revelations that MPs get salaries from the public purse, plus expenses).
Controversy as SNP MPs discovered holidaying outside Scotland (in Greece, Spain, etc)
SNP hypocrisy. Despite their claims to be left of centre, our reporter discovers a lot of SNP members own their own homes, get salaries which they don’t give away, and own other private property such as cars and CD collections).
Scot Nats support Terror, IS shocker. (revelation some SNP members attended gig by US group Terror. Unexplained capitalisation of copular verb BE in this one.
I told him, as I’d suggest any individual who utilises such tax avoidance loopholes should, to tell anyone that they’ll start paying the full tax amount when Westminster stops spending taxpayers cash on bombs and starts spending it on bairns.
If Jimmy Carr had said that, instead of giving in to the relentless 3 day media onslaught, I’d probably have more respect for him.
Any person that works for an employment agency like Blue Arrow, gets talked into going into a tax avoidance scheme when they sign up. Agency makes loads from it. Employees get pennies.
“presence of Scottish Labour MPs”
You ned to check your grammar. Only a singular example (thank god!)
From Project Fear to Project Smear?
I work in the oil industry running a small limited company.
Can I expect headlines about me because I actually have the temerity to pay an accountant to limit my tax liability ???????
You could not make that shit up.
Looks like WOS is under some kind of attack right enough, or there do be some lumpy gremlins in the system – nothing getting through…this is a test.
…but my last went up right away?
Far right UKOK is pretty comic right now, Sturgeon too arrogant for her own good, Salmond’s Frank Sinatra not for his own good.
How did we lose Scotland to these idiots again?
Iain Martin ?@iainmartin1 Dec 6
Is Nicola Sturgeon’s @SNP becoming too arrogant for its own good? (My latest for @CapX) link to capx.co via @CapX
View summary 14 retweets 13 likes
Reply Retweet 14
David Torrance
?@davidtorrance
My @heraldscotland column on how Alex Salmond resembles the Frank Sinatra of Scottish politics:
Somewhere in the top ten “accused” has to have a mention…
Accused . noun. English, chiefly to generate a supposition of guilt before trial or facts, uniquely bestowed upon SNP members or representatives there of
e.g. SNP “accused” of drowning kittens, x , Y or Z (by political opponents)
I remember Fife council used to give interest free loans to employees, using public money, which if invested, would have provided a source of income through the interest generated. They knew how to buy their votes.
I knew an accountant who got away with claiming for shoelaces
as clothing
If that’s within the rules I’m claiming for Fags and a raincoat coz I have to stand outside places to smoke them
Mibbees a scarf as well
Point is,none of our lot has broken any laws and yet they still keep pumping this drivel day after day, while there are guys in the Lords who’ve been interfering with kids for years and others stashing away millions of bucks worth of Isis oil money they’re buying through Turkey
Cameron is trying to rig the electoral system to keep the Tories in power for the next Gazillion years while betraying every principal of the Devolution settlement to Scotland and still, all the Scottish media focus on is three SNP MPs who have never been charged or even investigated for anything in the hope of turning up an empty bin with some toilet paper not flushed just so they can call them dirty after the DNA test proves it was only snotters
I’m getting a wee bitty Jockhadist aboot these people noo, which would be bad enough but there are real nutters out there that Camerons friendly media are encouraging with their stupid Scottish Jets front pages, and mibbees if we had any Scottish jets that would mean we’d be Independant and the Scottish people and parliament would have decided whether or if our pilots would be at home with their families this Christmas instead of dropping big banging crackers on a bunch of folk who’ve got plenty of them falling out the sky in the first place
Ach
With the ongoing smear campaign from UKOK hackdom, has anyone checked pig fancier Cammers approval ratings for a while, other than among arms manufacturers? and compared to say Nic Sturgeon or Alex Salmond.
All MSM puts the boot in to poor old JC but YOUgov grudgingly reports that sex with pigs and charging off to another hot war has dragged Cammers approval rating up to the dizzying heights of zero! Woohoo.
link to yougov.co.uk
YOUgov don’t do SNP but it’s likely the whole UKOK media creepshow desperately trying to make anything SNP as toxic as a dead pig, will be watching SNP ratings pretty closely.
Worst so far has to be the full on BBC Scotland historic monstering on Thompson but they need to get back to their terrify vote NO referendum Project Fear levels, from the ratings. Next May is just going to be BBC Scotland terrorises their Scotland region, all over again.
Blow. noun. English chiefly for the use to described the action of exhaling air from the lungs. Autonomic and nothing to do with higher brain function
Hence its use by the Scottish MSM to describe anything contrary to the SNP position or self determination of the Scottish people as a blow.
This is an all out assault on our elected government. The publishers of these rags are our enemies; patsies put in place to subvert our democracy and political ideology. They are enemies of Scotland and deserve to be outed as such.
If their crimes against Scotland’s people don’t hang them, then crimes against journalism should damn them.
Newsagents who believe in Scotland’s democracy ought to reserve a shelf beside their pornography section for Unionist propaganda, because that is all that it is. Then again, a newsagent is an agent for news, so surely isn’t obliged to sell this crap at all.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but when you follow the Rev Stu’s link to that archived daily record page and read the whole article you get a genuine experience of déjà vu. Starting from the second paragraph, a huge chunk of text (448 words) is copied and pasted into the article further down the page. When I checked the live page about 10 minutes ago, that was still the case. If Murray Foote is reading this page tonight, all of that could change, of course.
Maybe it was done to give the writer the feeling of having made a substantial contribution, in view of the fact that the subject matter is of virtually no interest to anyone. Or maybe daily-record staff are trained to believe that saying something meaningless twice somehow makes it meaningful.
link to archive.is
O/T
Veterans organising a protest against the bombing of Syria in Downing Street tomorrow.
“Our attack on Syria will make things worse. You only need to look at the outcome of our attacks on Iraq and Libya to see that…David Smith, who served with the Royal Green jackets infantry regiment, said: “I want to express my utter disgust at the decision to unlawfully bomb Syria, god help all those who are likely to suffer as a result of this action.”
link to rt.com
However, elsewhere on RT we find Cadburys use tax avoidance schemes, amazingly similar to the story above, to pay no UK tax.
“Labour MP Margaret Hodge, chair of a cross-party group on responsible tax, said the Quakers who founded Cadbury would be “turning in their grave.”
Oops. Quakers everywhere will demand an apology.
link to rt.com
O/T
Stop The War have organised a rally for Saturday 12th Dec outside the BBC head office in London.
Stop Bombing Syria | National demonstration
Saturday 12 December | Assemble12 Noon
BBC Broadcasting House | Portland Place W1A 1AA.
link to stopwar.org.uk
I wonder if BBC England also tell lies about the amount of protesters who turned up.
Not sure if this is the Rally that the Red Tories in the Labour Party are telling Corbyn not to attend.
Breaking news
It has been confirmed that the SNP only got 56 MPs because people voted for them….and that some of those people were known independence supporters.
Labour demands that the election be run again this time with precautions to ensure that no one is allowed to vote SNP.
Hello!
Is anybody there?
Oh Jeez, scandal is it?
Lessee, scandal in my book is pilfering from the public purse, cash for access or questions, given patronage and privilege for betraying your ethics and constituents, using position for lobbying purposes, lying your ass off from said position to influence ballots, operating a paedophile ring for years under protection, leading your country into illegal wars that kinda thing.
Those are scandals. Having some meeja wonk tell you a thing is a scandal when no one has been charged with anything seems a bit premature. IF anything comes from this naked trial by media, that’s the time to get upset with a representative. Until then its the media and their party chain tuggers doing what they do best – swimming in sewage.
Everyone seems to have vanished. Have the “Deatheaters” got them
O/T links
link to alexsalmond.scot
link to tommysheppardmp.scot
link to taxresearch.org.uk
link to stopwar.org.uk
link to change.org?
“Is there anybody out there?”
Is the site still under attack Stu?
Noticed it is more difficult to load up and delays to posts and lost posts not showing up!
Seasons greetings to all!
O/T links
link to dailybusinessgroup.co.uk
None Of The Seven Foiled UK Terror Plots Was Directed From Syria, Senior MPs Claim
link to archive.is
link to theargus.co.uk
link to exaronews.com
link to counterpunch.org
Does anyone else feel the increasing malice in Westminster’s propaganda war. Or is it just the saturation effect of the non-stop lie bombing by Unionist Corp media over the last four years.
The question of the day is – does Oscar Pistorius have relatives who work in BBC news?
Article in The National by respected journalist Martin Hannah says that in 2009 FETA delayed vital repairs to the Forth Road Bridge joints to 2016 in order to save £6 million.
link to thenational.scot
Comments have continued over on the “visionary” thread. There is a problem in that this thread doesn’t show up when I open the site. Once you scroll to the bottom the previous thread you see the link. But the thread is now listed now that I’m on it. Odd.
The comment counter isn’t working properly either.
Fellow Wingers, I think this site is currently under attack. A number of posts are being rejected (or not appearing) for no apparent reason.
Cameron’s new GCHQ guys already on the job? And you thought it was for the terrorist threat. Independence is the real threat to the union now, so expect quite a lot of attention between now and the elections in May.
“Fellow Wingers, I think this site is currently under attack. A number of posts are being rejected (or not appearing) for no apparent reason. Cameron’s new GCHQ guys already on the job?”
Folks, we have technical hitches from time to time, as most websites do. It’s really not very helpful to assume it must be MI5 or similar, unless you’re trying to make us all sound like tinfoil-hatted nutters.
On Foulkes and his senate wheeze: at the simplest level we could just vote in lots of SNP senators.
However that wouldn’t be the way the Westminster wanks would want to do it. It would be an imposed system.
The senator second chamber idea for Westminster was still be from those put forward by the different parties, but with SNP the biggest party in Hollyrood they would still dominate with most senators.
That would leave one last possibility of Westminster deciding the make up, specifically designed to outweigh the SNP.
If at that point the voters of Scotland accepted this, an idea put forward by the party that lost catastrophically in Scotland and failed very badly to persuade England to vote for them, then ‘we’ would thoroughly deserve the very worst that comes ‘our’ way.
How rancid The Graun spin Crash Gordon’s UKOK rewards. Pimco sounds lovely but why would Graun shysters not explain what it actually is? Very tasty Gordon, socialist for the rich, nom nom.
link to theguardian.com
Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC (commonly called PIMCO), is a global investment management firm headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with over 2,000 employees working
Perhaps we should ban Trump from the UK until we can figure him out?
I see some folks saying there is something wrong with the site. Posted 2 lots of links early this morning so far no show.
Anyway have to go out now so hopefully they will appear later.
In the National saying that in some constituencies there may be no labour candidate on the ballot.
Labour can’t get candidates to stand for the election on the FPTP as all want to be on the list as it’s safer.
Imagine!
I had problems with the site yesterday. If I refreshed the page it would revert to comment 14 at 11:40 (or thereabouts) If however I closed the tab and reloaded the page I could view all comments up to date.
My above comment at 10:42 posted immediately. First for a while.
Take note people.
Problems with the site should alert us all just how fragile our internet resource actually is.
We should prepare a “what if” dossier, so we have contingency arrangements in place should the unthinkable actually happen. Let’s not kid ourselves it cannot happen.
I was once a great fan of Newsnet Scotland. I know it wasn’t universally liked, but it worked for me. Unfortunately Mr Bateman leaves me cold, and frankly I felt a bit conned that it disappeared so quickly, only to re-emerge as something completely different.
I think the SNP needs to seize the initiative here, and start actively supporting Indie Indy broadcasting/blogs/forums/news media. I don’t care that broadcasting is devolved… Get clever about it and support the real views of Scotland’s people. One day Scotland will be BBCFree. Can’t happen soon enough, but it will happen a lot sooner if the playing field is a bit more level.
@Breeks
I have long thought that myself ‘what if’ because a few on here don’t twitter or face-book (me being one). The valuable feeling of a community united for a purpose would disappear. It would take a while to re-establish all those connections. Some resilience measures a good idea if wings were to go down for a wee while at an important time.
I still chip in to Newsnet monthly (habit/loyalty) but rarely go there since it changed and got a bit po-faced a while back.
Breeks
SNP can’t sponsor Wings or any other pro Indy site and the beauty of the non SNP official sites is that they can say things the SNP can’t.
test
As far as I am aware tax avoidance is still quite legal, though unethical.
However both Labour and the Tories have had decades to put at stop tax avoidance here in the schemes but haven’t done so.
And haven’t there been cases where their own MPs have also used tax avoidance schemes and the companies been
Re Foulke’s idea of a second chamber.
Think they will propose that all Scottish lords move to Holyrood – God forbid.
So, what to do?
We get small stickers made which read, for example:
“This newspaper lied to the people of Scotland in 2014. How do you know they are not doing so now? Wisen up. Don’t fall for their lies.”
Or something to that effect. And then – we place the stickers over the BAR CODES of the Unionist Newspapers each and every time we go shopping.
The check-out bar scanners won’t be able to read the bar-code. Message delivered.
to complete what I was saying before this computer prematurely sent off my post.
As well as of the companies which have donated to both those parties.
Sorry, just want to see if the web page will hold my details now.
No, it didn’t.
And my most recent comment isn’t visible. I suppose everything isn’t fixed then.
Modern version of the “Little Boy Who Cried Wolf.”
The tale concerns the a media who repeatedly try to trick the public into thinking an elected SNP official has been guilty of illegal or immoral practices. When one actually does something bad the media again demands retribution. The people ignore them believing that it is another false alarm and the media go apoplectic and scream, “SNP members are brainwashed robots who aren’t interested in the truth” All the while their circulation continues in a downward spiral. Ironic really.
Rangers used tax avoidance schemes for years…
My, news does travel fast down to Somerset these days!
I remember not so long ago when there was ‘No news’ in Scotland!
So to sum up tax dodging is ok as long as it’s done by a member of the SNP!
So that’s alright then!
*Slow handclap*
Still someone seems to think it’s ‘obscene’!
link to heraldscotland.com
Still after losing two MP’s over financial scandals, losing a third would look like carelessness, I expect Boswell to cling on…
Even despite Nicola’s ‘Zero tolerance’ for tax avoidance!
Even if they can’t sponsor a site directly, there are a hundred things they could do… Use blogs to disseminate information. Make it apparent that the SNP does read and approves of the site. Maybe have an SNP official contributer to topics which lets the masses touch base with our government. Then there are profiles of MSP’s which might be shared with blogs to give sites a degree of kudos that it has first hand sources.
Journalism is all about information. The better informed, and formally or informally sanctioned our blogs and websites become, the more professional they will appear. The Rev here is supremely well informed, but with the greatest respect, I bet a lot of the information finds him rather than the Rev touching flesh to find things out.
We could have a burgeoning fresh and alternative Scottish media finding its feet and getting a hand, rather than the faux respect shown towards the BBC propagandists. To paraphrase the Native American expression, between the good wolf and the bad wolf, the wolf which survives is the one you feed.
An “executive loan” is just that – A LOAN. It has to be repaid at some point in full. Meanwhile the tax man treats it as a benefit in kind and your tax code is adjusted on the basis of the interest that would normally be paid on such a loan.i.e. you pay the tax man instead of the lender.
No real gain is achieved when interest rates are low as at present.other than a relatively low “interest”.
At present someone with a good income and strong credit rating would probably get a better deal from the main lenders and not have to declare that to the taxman because it is a loan with interest.
A lot of hot air over pennies.
A pity Labour openened the door to the American market for pay day loans – that was the real crime hitting the most vulnerable with eye watering interest rates.
Hey Lord Purvis, have the Lib Dems returned Michael Brown’s dirty £2.4m yet?
Stuart says:
8 December, 2015 at 2:10 pm
You obviously don’t understand tax avoidance.
If I put money into an account in my wifes name she doesn’t pay tax on the interest as she has no income. This is quite legal.
If I put some of my salary into additional AVCs for my pension then I don’t pay tax on that amount. This is quite legal.
If I put money in an ISA I avoid tax on the interest – quite legal.
If I make a donation to a charity I can claim this on my Tax return and reduce my tax bill – quite legal.
If I claim the cost of specialised tools / workwear then I reduce my tax bill – quite legal.
If my employer provides an interest free loan then it will appear on my PD11A and I will pay tax. Once again quite legal.
Tax evasion is quite different from Tax avoidance
Clootie says: 3:16 pm
Stuart says: 2:10 pm
Your wasting you’re time Clootie, our Stewart is just home from school, and needs to pester someone before his mum makes his tea.
Hi Claymore64, still not sharpened your weapon I see!
Always good for a laugh our Stewart.
I’d be careful of the National. It has had its chance to give the other side of the Michelle Thomson story but preferred to trot out the conventional hack line, just when the story broke.
The main problem here is that this is a variant of the EBT scheme used by Rangers. Which was closed in 2011 a year before it’s use here. The reason it fucked up Rangers was that with the change in offshore earnings regulations they suddenly had a looming deficit when the players were scheduled to be paid the earnings that were, supposedly, the results of offshore investments made on their behalf.
The change from no tax liability to the difference between the origin and UK tax liability put an end to those kind of schemes. The SFA case wasn’t anything to do with the legality or otherwise of those schemes it was simply that Rangers hadn’t registered them as required.
The other extremely dodgy thing involved was that in order for the particular dodge the SNP bloke was involved in to work you had to be employed by an offshore agency and then subcontracted out to your original employer. An incredibly dodgy thing to do if you think about it given you’ve just given up any employment rights. All for the chance that the tax rate falls or you make so little cash in a given year that you actually benefit from not taking the cash straight away.
The motivation in this case is that he’s attacking another scheme where you pretend to invest and then claim your wages as capital gains paying 28% rather than the 40% you’d do if it was income.
Edward at 6:53pm
“I really would not be surprised if it was the establishments idea of picking off the SNP MP’s one by one in order to discredit them.”
The SNP needs to wise up. Leak a nice juicy “scandal” about an SNP MP, keeping irrefutable proof of innocence in reserve.
When the BUM plasters the “scandal” all over their front pages sue their dumb asses in court and leave them without a pot to piss in.
The “cunning plan” will stop then.
… given that no one else has even questioned these types of arrangements, I suppose it is up to me to put the alternative view on behalf of the rest of us tax payers, and, therefore, be labelled a BritNat, Unionist, UKOK, Scotland hating, SNP hating, Tory activist, hack – by the usual crowd.
Regardless of our personal politics, or those that have been elected to represent us, don’t we all agree that we/they should all pay the proper, intended, tax – given a set of circumstances.
The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion can be a fine line. The government passed legislation that allows us all to avoid tax legally and with the blessing of tax authorities. Using our personal allowance, investing in ISAs, claiming for travel expenses, etc are clear examples of legal and intended means of people being able to avoid tax.
We also know lots of clear cases of tax evasion when we see them. If someone receives payment for providing a service – and doesn’t declare it for tax purposes – then clearly that is tax evasion.
In assessing where someone “crosses the line”, this may be helpful:
“In the case of Commissioner of Customs and Excise v Randles Brothers and Hudson Limited 1941 AD 369, ‘a disguised transaction is in essence a dishonest transaction, inasmuch as the parties to it do not really have, inter partes, the legal effect which its terms convey to the outside world. The purpose of the disguise is to deceive by concealing what is the real agreement or transaction between the parties. The parties wish to hide the fact that their real agreement or transaction falls within the prohibition or is subject to the tax, and so they dress it up in a guise which conveys the impression that it is outside of the prohibition or not subject to the tax.’
So without reference to any specific case, I would say that if someone receives something described as “loan” for providing products and/or services – instead of being paid for providing those products or services – then, IMHO, there is an attempt to “disguise” the true nature of the arrangement – purely for the purposes of evading tax.
Whilst I don’t suppose this comment will be received in the manner it is intended – I have, at least, tried.
For the record, if any Tory, labour, UKIP, Green, et al MP was found to be using such schemes – I would feel the same way.
I have a shares ISA but then I am not a member of the SNP so I cant be BAD!I can also avoid paying tax on any capital gain should I be lucky enough to make a nice profit on the shares when I sell them. The Brit Nats would normally applaud such astute investing but since I voted Yes to Indy I am very BAD!
When are the SNP going to stop taking this shite?
Awa and play with yourself Stuart! You are clearly pig ignorant when it comes to understanding what is legal tax avoidance as decreed by your own pig fucking Lords and Masters in London and what tax evasion is, which is quite illegal as decreed by those same slimy and sleazy institutions that you slaver over.
For more information see: link to gov.uk
… where HMRC were offering a sort of “amnesty” for people owning up to the fact that they were involved in such schemes and be given the opportunity to “correct” matters without being pursued for illegality or penalties – just the tax that should have been paid.
@Edward says: 7 December, 2015 at 6:53 pm:
“Don’t allow the establishment to get away with the little wheeze”.
Thing is, Edward, they are not getting away with it. The more they hack away at the SNP elected people the more Scottish electorate are supporting the SNP. In fact I read yesterday that ex-England international footballer Stan Collymore, “has left Labour to join SNP”.
link to bbc.co.uk
From BBC website –
I object most strongly to how they use my tax money to kill innocent people abroad in their perpetual desire for war.
I object most strongly to how they use my tax money to buy nuclear weapons.
I object most strongly to how they short change Scotland at every turn.
Consequently I avoid as much tax as possible.
Come an independent Scotland I won’t be so careful.
FFS we’ve got to listen to something similar to this tripe another 53 times
Yet again stv say M9 tragedy was a 999 call