And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. Luke 2:1-3
We do not commonly see in a tax a diminution of freedom, and yet it clearly is one. Herbert Spencer
You know, gentlemen, that I do not owe any personal income tax. But nevertheless, I send a small check, now and then, to the Internal Revenue Service out of the kindness of my heart. David Rockefeller
According to the IRS, the wealthiest 400 Americans, who earned an average of roughly $270 million in 2008, paid an average tax rate of just 18.2 per cent that year. That’s about the same rate paid by a single truck driver in Rhode Island. It’s not right, and we need to restore fairness to our tax code. Sheldon Whitehouse
You’d better get those books sorted, Susan, before the tax man gets here; sees them and he’ll think Christmas come early. Ian Bleasdale, Play For Today: The Muscle Market ***** starring Bernard Hill & Pete Postlethwaite et al, Danny Duggan to secretary, BBC 1981
Times are hard all right. Same again? ibid. golfers at bar
I’ve worked hard for all this. This [car] and me business and me house. And everything. And for you. And what happens when I get here? Country’s falling apart. Me arse is hanging out the building game. Kids couldn’t wait to leave home. I’ve got no real friends. Me wife’s a sex maniac, and me mistress gets headaches. ibid. Danny to secretary in car
What sort of a world do you think it is eh outside your rules and regulations? Listen, bollocks, I’ll tell ya. Everyone in this business starts off on the rob. Every big firm in this country started out by some grabbing bastard hustling and lying and thieving. ’Cause that’s the only way to get up there. But it doesn’t matter. And do you know why? ’Cause when you get up there there’s more robbin’ goes on in Park Land and priggin’ Mayfair and tax havens and computers and the like that in site huts and wellies and farting little offices like this. ibid. Danny to taxmen
So why do people really pay their taxes? Because it is the fight thing to do, or because they fear getting caught if they don’t? It sure seems to be the latter. Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner, Freakonomics
Unless you are personally cheating by one-fifth or more, you should be made at the IRS – not because it’s too vigilant, but because it’s not nearly vigilant enough. Why should you pay your fair share when the agency lets a few hundred billion dollars of other people’s money go uncollected every year? ibid.
London: think you can fake it? … This bunch of mugs were fraudsters of the highest order. Storyville: The Great Gangster Film Fraud BBC 2016
The making of A Landscape of Lives: lured to the glamour and the glitz of making movies. ibid.
Bashar: back to his old stomping ground at East London Uni – he wasn’t the type of guy to end up in middle management tapping a keyboard in an open plan office – no, sir, Bashar had another sky-high ambition: to become a film producer. ibid.
The film tax credit is only meant to be a percentage of the real cost. ibid.
A bunch of wannabees ... or a gang of scammers who planned it all from day one? ibid.
A Landscape of Lives became A Landscape of Lies. ibid.
One of the most imaginative attempts to covering one’s tracks … Acting out an alibi. ibid.
‘To continue to do something wrong with the same people … You kind of deserve what’s coming your way.’ ibid. witness
No-one wanted to watch his film (£60-80,000 cf. declared budget £20,000,000). ibid.
The judge threw the book at our unlucky film-makers. ibid.
If you end up not paying [taxes] they get out the whips and they tie you to a pole, and that’s what you get for not coming up with the money. James Burke, Connections: The Trigger Effect s1e1, BBC 1978
All of us have a right to see 18,000 works of art. Mark Thomas Comedy Product s2e7
‘I will transport my Gainsborough painting from my house to my bank where you shall see it.’ ibid. Rothschild
Rothschild paid tax on 350 works of art. ibid.
We may be shivering. But there’s one bit of Britain where things are very different: the Cayman Islands. It’s a Caribbean paradise of sun, sea and cocktails, but there’s something else going on: big money. It’s one of the most secretive places on Earth. And for one very good reason: Cayman is a tax haven. Jacques Peretti, Britain’s Trillion Pound Paradise: Inside Cayman, BBC 2016
But on the Cayman Islands no-one pays a penny. ibid.
It’s a British overseas territory. ibid.
Fish fingers: eleven dollars … This island doesn’t necessarily work so well for ordinary people. ibid.
The average four-bed on Cayman: nearly two-million pounds. ibid.
It’s competing with tax havens around the world. ibid.
Cayman is an island of great inequality. ibid.
Imagine a world in which there are no taxes. Where laws and regulations can be adjusted according to your own wishes. The Tax Free Tour, 2012
Welcome on board the tax-free tour. ibid.
Apple: Well they park about $2.2 billion of royalties offshore … They paid about 1.9% tax, corporate tax, in the United States. ibid.
A world that for most of us is hidden from view. A world in which the capital flows of multinationals are structured and sometimes make a quick stopover in the Cayman Islands, or Cyprus and Amsterdam … a world in which no taxes are paid. ibid.
Apple is considered a pioneer on this tax route which is commonly known as Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich. ibid.
‘The rich countries of the world are supposed to be the most responsible … are running this shell game for the world.’ ibid. expert
‘Something like eleven trillion Euros is routed through the Netherlands each year.’ ibid. tax detective
How can this offshore world exist? Who maintains it? Who keeps it all running and makes sure the inhabitants get the best advice? Who builds the financial structure and monitors the capital flows? ibid.
You’ll find all the familiar names of banks … consistently the same accountants, banks, consistently the same banks, and always lawyers to support them. ibid.
‘There is nobody who judges the accountants.’ ibid. expert
This stuff is backed by the European Union. ibid.
The Unexplained: These are the great mysteries of our age: for the past forty years the government has scrupulously maintained a British tax loophole. Anyone who registers their UK assets abroad can avoid Capital Gains Tax at 40%. This anomaly costs the nation an estimated £10 billion a year. Spitting Image s17e3, ITV 1994
The tax rates corporations actually pay is at an all-time low. Alex Gibney, Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream, 2012
Tax: None of us much enjoy paying it but some just don’t pay. Whether by avoidance or evasion these are the tax-dodgers. The public are demanding something must be done. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs think they’ve discovered a £36 billion black hole where the cash isn’t being handed over. With a £4 billion budget, extraordinary new powers and a 60,000 strong army of staff they’re getting tough like never before. Catching the Tax Dodgers I, Channel 4 2017
‘I don’t see the head of HMRC knocking on Vodaphone’s door today to get the tax back.’ ibid. protester
They’ve been criticised for not dragging off-shore evaders into the criminal courts. ibid.
Since 2013 HMRC say they have secured more than £100 billion from those bending or breaking the rules. ibid.
We set up our own company to expose a billion pound tax scam … We go undercover to show how the fraud works. We sell our fraudulent goods on ebay and Amazon. We ask, Who is protecting British taxpayers? Panorama: The Billion Pound VAT Scam, BBC 2017
‘Evasion of VAT by overseas sellers.’ ibid. taxman
Criminals are dodging two types of VAT: they’re evading VAT at the border when it’s imported – that’s up to 20% of the value of the goods – and they’re not charging VAT when they’re selling goods to customers. ibid.
Rupert Murdoch’s News International has paid virtually no tax in the past ten years. Wolvoman80, Government and New World Order Corruption Exposed aka Planet Earth, Youtube 3.00.26