It is time that tax avoidance is treated as theft, not a "procedural misdemeanor' which is often the result with the guilty party allowed to buy their way out by paying the back tax plus a penalty.
Tax avoidance is simply organising your affairs to pay the minimum tax and not the maximum. Your personal allowance is avoiding paying tax on every £ or income. Your ISAs are the same - a piece of tax avoidance. So is your pension scheme.
I use all the allowances that I legally can to ensure that the income that I pay 40% on is kept to a minimum. I dont think that should be treated as theft
Perhaps I should have said evasion, not avoidance. You are right, there are many perfectly legal ways to minimise the amount of tax paid. We all must use these opportunities to the fullest amount allowed.
There are also a number of methods which whilst not strictly illegal may not be acceptable to HMRC's interpretation of the law. Some of these schemes end up being declared illegal.
Then there are processes which are illegal. Inevitably the result, when caught, is expensive. I think it should also result in a criminal record and possibly time behind bars. Particularly for Company Directors who tacitly agree to such schemes to improve shareholder returns.
