On 23/06/2012 10:04, JNugent wrote:


These schemes for paying no tax or little tax have been popping up in
the last couple of years

I think you mean they have been getting publicity for the last couple of
years.

I think it was Tom Clancy (who is fairly right wing and you would
think if anyone agreed with these schemes it would be him) wrote
(possibly one of the Jack Ryan novels ) about a book (well many books)
covering the tax laws collapsing a table as there were so many
options/opt outs/loopholes written in to it. The suggestion was that
taxes could be written in one pamphlet if everyone just paid a flat rate.
Memory is hazy, may be a completely different author may be a different
novel but the basic reasoning still stands that there have been
workarounds/opt outs/schemes etc since a day after any tax law was
brought out.