Reply to post: The money has to come from somewhere...

Online VAT fraud: Calls for government crackdown grow louder

Commswonk

The money has to come from somewhere...

Like it or not the UK government - like governments everywhere - needs money, and given that there is no such thing as a Magic Money Tree the only way it can get it is via taxation. Without that money how could things like the NHS, education, the Fire Services and the Police and so on (and on...) ever be funded?

If VAT didn't exist then the money raised would have to come from other sources; how many here would put up their hands for (much?) higher income tax? I am not a "tax and spend" enthusiast!

I get a bit twitchy when I read statements like Paying tax damages the business because this seems to suggest that "business" should be given a free ride. Doubtless some businesses would argue that they shouldn't have to pay for their heating and lighting on the grounds that "it damages the business". I don't doubt some might even claim that paying their staff "damages the business", but they get around that one by using zero - hours contracts instead. (For the avoidance of doubt I deprecate the use of this ploy as a means of keeping wages down.)

If HMRC decide to focus on people who ought to be paying tax but aren't (possibly by not admitting to being a business when in fact they are) then that's fine by me. I'd be even happier if they could make sure that Corporation Tax was paid in full , rather than negotiating discounts over cosy lunches. If I discovered that HMG was working with others to ensure that large international companies paid their tax (rather than moving it around the globe with one hand while giving us 2 fingers with the other) then I'd be even happier still.

If people are trading on ebay / Amazon and the like while not owning up to being businesses then as far as I am concerned they are fair game for the attention of the tax man. in any case it's not the business that has to meet business costs - it's the customers, and businesses should set their charges to suit.

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