The head of Deutsche Post has been accused of tax fraud, using Lichtenstein as a haven. Now the thing has come to light, it is turning out that a lot of wealthy Germans are doing the same.
Good luck to them say I. The German Chancellor just needs to remember the people and companies are mobile whereas property is fixed. With globalisation of corporations and the super-rich, if governments do not want to let them get off scot-free, this principle is more important than ever.
Land cannot be hidden or demolished or removed to a tax haven and it is straightforward to levy and collect a tax on land. If the owner does not pay up, then, as a last resort, it can be confiscated and sold to pay the tax due. People, especially politicians, should not complain when people and corporations try to avoid paying tax. There is a simple solution and it is up to governments to apply it.
I wrote to my MP on two entirely separate issues recently. The first was to do with the replacement for the Inter City 125 train, which at £2.6 million per vehicle, is twice as expensive as it ought to be. The second concerned the benefits of a switch from business rate and Council Tax to a tax based on site values. In both cases, the replies were full of spurious, unsubstantiated assertions and completely flawed arguments. This is typical. You will not get an iota of sense from the government on any area of public policy at all - finance, economics, trade and employment, agriculture, housing, health, transport, energy. All junk. If you write to your MP you will invariably receive answers that are an insult to your intelligence, no matter what subject you are writing about. Of course they cannot understand statistics. They are innumerate. Whitehall is staffed with idiots with a high IQ. Look at their IT projects. And mind your purse, they will have that too.
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