ARE you rich enough to avoid tax?

It is widely said that there only two certainties in life, death and taxes.

So with this in mind why are so many of the superrich dodging paying theirs?

Over the past few years there have been some high profile cases of celebrities paying into schemes that mean they can get around paying tax. Jimmy Carr and Gary Barlow are just two examples.

The most important (and frustrating) thing to remember that what they are doing isn’t illegal. They are not breaking any laws. There are merely going around the system by creating companies and taking tax free loans from it, or changing address abroad while earning all their money somewhere else. There are plenty of accountants and financial advisors who will helpfully charge a fee to ensure you kept as much as your millions as possible.

And on television, time and again, we are told what the difference is between tax avoidance (legal) and tax evasion (illegal).

Legal as avoiding tax may be, it is still despicable and morally wrong.

All of us, those who are not millionaires, have to either fill in a tax return or just see the tax go out of our payslips every month.

There’s no choice for us on whether we would like to hide our money away.

So what can be done about it?

It seems that every Government over the years, regardless of party, is having a running battle with the mega rich to plead or force them to pay up.

There is a mentality in some of them (especially business people) that the wealth they bring to the country through investment and jobs is somehow a free pass when it comes to tax. This is rubbish.

Everyone else works hard to create wealth and we are also honest enough to pay into the state that ensures sick people are taken care of and our borders are secure.

Others will turn straight away and say that they don’t want to be taxed more. This isn’t about taxing more, it is about taxing properly.

The sad state of affairs is that the rich are also the powerful and still have an ear to the powers that be when it comes to clamping down on their tax evasion.

I have no quarrel with those who make a lot of money in our country. All I ask is that you pay your taxes.

What do you think? Email lancsletters@nqnw.co.uk