PRISM SHOW 5th December 2021.

Posted byiainlawson27Posted inUncategorized

A lively discussion on practical ways to make taxation fairer and more transparent. a System that works for Scotland and ends tax avoidance and evasion forcing everyone to pay their fair share. The SNP’s Graeme McCormick is the guest this week.

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22 thoughts on “PRISM SHOW 5th December 2021.”

  2. Are you doing an analysis of the elections to the SNP NEC and what that means for the direction of the party?

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      1. I look forward to your analysis.

        Another matter, I see Jean Freeman coming out in support of assisted dying. And saying she believes the public is ahead of the parliament on this one. There may be a debate to be had, and I am on the other side of that debate from Ms Freeman, but this is the kind of politicking I dont like. She didnt have the courage to stand for parliament on this view – to test her views against the electorate and see if they voted for her. In fact for all her public service she didnt actually put herself up for election very often. But now when she is not seeking election she flies this kite giving the impression she is a punter, speaking for other punters, when we know fully that she is hand in glove with former colleagues in parliament in seeking to advance another aspect of anti-life agenda, while knowing if they put it in a manifesto they would be voted against.

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      2. With you on that David. I know it is a difficult topic but I worry about relatives applying undue pressure in order to secure an early inheritance.

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  3. As an accountant I’m always looking for loopholes. Under this system what is to stop millionaires buying properties and setting them up as hotels? They then live in the hotel which is paying the Land Tax as a tax deductible business expense and pay no Land Tax at all.

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    2. Same issue with business rates at present. If a millionaire prefers to share accommodation in a hotel rather than live in a mansion then it’s their choice.

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      1. The millionaire still has to pay income tax if he’s living in a hotel as tax is based on residence. Under this scheme he pays nothing as it’s business premises.

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    3. I agree Andrew, I’m not fully convinced about this for a number of reasons I’m still mulling over. I will rewatch this and list what I see to be the flaws.

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    4. Everybody that owns land * ( homes and businesses) pays the tax for the land they occupy and use i.e. they have a legal right which is guaranteed by society for them to be there as long as they pay their tax.
      There are no tax deductible items on this tax , you pay it all , that’s the beauty of it , simple. Only problem is the poor widow example , where she has to pay the same as the big earning family next door , but a) she could move or b) the cost of her tax could be paid when the land (house she’s in ) gets sold.

      *folks that rent don’t pay.

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      1. If you make the tax non-deductible for businesses then you are closing down the tourist industry as accommodation charges will have to increase substantially and we will be uncompetitive compared to other destinations.

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  4. As a pensioner I paid money into my pension pot before the residue was subject to tax. This is tax avoidance and the loophole is there by government agreement. I also have an isa which allows me to avoid tax. Neither is illegal and people take advantage of them as the government wishes them to.

    Tax evasion is an illegal activity which involves not paying tax due.

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  5. If this was introduced it would accelerate businesses making people work from home so that they could reduce their physical footprint.

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    1. That is happening without it being in place. You would be surprised at the panic amongst the owners of big shopping centres and city centre office blocks. The world is changing.

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      1. Aye wee salty Alan Sugar made a point a while back about companies being quite happy to encourage more working-from-home as it saves them a LOT of money not having to pay for office space . Nothing to do with decreasing carbon footprints , though no doubt say they’ll it was

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  7. Another option would be for the millionaire to live on a super yacht moored offshore – zero tax.

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  8. I’m glad Graeme is leading a charge on this. It’s not a new idea, however. This concept has been kicking around for more than one hundred years! In our history, Of course the House of Lords, amongst others conspired to suppress it. Fred Harrison wrote a book called “The Power In the Land”, some 35 years ago and his concept of Land Tax, offered complete replacement of the Income Tax system. I have the feeling that Graeme has read this book.

    Amongst James Hunter’s surveys for his book, “Who Owns Scotland”. He stated there was 9 million acres in Scotland. Of which, he could only find owners, willing to admit to 6 million. Makes you wonder, who wants to keep it a secret and why? Maybe there’s a lack of legal Title Deeds? Registers of Sassines? Royal Consents? Also history suggests lots of Common Land was grabbed by landowners. After all, who was more powerful than the landowner? We know that lots of land changed hands, transferred from Jacobite supporters to King George’s supporters after Culloden. But what legal documents actually exist to prove ownership?

    For example, it has been suggested that if a landowner suddenly needs large sums of cash, he could “sell” acreage to one or more neighbouring landowners by way of an undisclosed legal letter, with the condition of being able to buy it back, sometime in the future at the then current rate.That arrangement would be mutually, beneficial. And would circumvent the normal expensive legal process that all of the rest of us, have to dutifully, follow.

    Land Registration is should be a must have, but only if it provides comprehensive data on ownership of all land. We don’t have that. Whilst, the rest of Europe have enjoyed Land Registration systems that allow them to chart all their land and who owns it.
    But they removed their Feudalism centuries ago, while we still have ours……

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