it’s a classic case of the uk receiving lower overall tax receipts because of punitive rates of tax on those who are in fact reasonably mobile and can choose where to live.

Most European countries have a top rate of tax which is either equal or more than the UK top rate.

It’s not “a classic case of the uk”.

Yes, you have chosen to be a teacher but others has chosen to be tax exiles so what’s the problem? You have chosen to work like monkey for peanuts while tax exiles feel the same in where they pay their tax. Yes?

No

the change in behaviour on tax is well proven so for the naysayers feel free to find the information yourselves as it’s readily available:

France – increase in emigration of high net worth individuals under the current government

UK – effect of high tax rates in the 1970s and following the introduction of the 50p rate

Also as an aside, the UK currently has one of the highest marginal rates of tax on the world at 62% on personal
Income above £100k

Anyway, none of this matters unless we actually want our public services to be affordable and properly funded.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/10390571/france-hollande-taxes-socialist-farrage.html

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/03/celebrating-the-25th-anniversary-of-nigel-lawsons-tax-cutting-budget/

http://www.economist.com/node/21530093

Not sports people but…..

See if you can find Jonathan Ross’ rant on the last series of Last Leg on You Tube – I’m no fan of his, but he basically said that he was lucky enough to earn a shed load of money, he paid about half of it in tax here in the UK which helped pay for public services, and it still left him with a shed load of money for himself.

Elton john – for all his quirks and strange spending habits – has always made the point that he lives here, he pays his taxes here, and he can spend the rest how he damn well pleases.

Respect to both of them for appreciating the opportunities their wealth has given them without shirking their responsibilities.

I would be interested in any evidence to support any claim they have ever made on this site.
I would not hold your breath if I were you.

Is it a previous user with a new login?

I usually avoid the political threads on here due to their utter futility so I’m a bit out of date.

PS. And I was being sarcastic, obvs 🙂

Well if corporations paid for everything there would be no need for any other taxes, but they don’t.

Damn those parasitic companies. We should ban them – the country would be far fairer then.

It’s OK to have a strong dislike for both, surely?

Yes of course. People will abuse and manipulate the system regardless of how it is set up. The problem is the ‘game’ in this country is so skewed to favour the super rich and multinationals it is bordering on the ridiculous.

Louis Hamilton is a drop in the ocean compared to the tax avoidance that goes on with ultra high net worth individuals and huge corporations. It doesn’t make it right though.

When you have people like Warren Buffet in the US saying he should pay more tax, perhaps the governments would do well to listen. Trickle down economics is a myth.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-11-21/warren-buffett-tells-abc-rich-people-should-pay-more-in-taxes

Not sure if an oldie member or not but they turn up say something [ fairly right wing without evidence] leave , return at day later and repeat.

Oh yes they are futile but I am drawn to them like flies to a flame shit 😳

Damn those parasitic companies. We should ban them – the country would be far fairer then.

There point was that they should pay tax

Hello Mr Internationally mobile wealthy Person, we would like to tax you a bit more. I hope that is ok.

Gee thanks….

Where did he go?…hello, hello ?

That will explain why there are no more wealthy mobile folk left in the UK

Well that spiralled a bit!

The most interesting point above was about foreign trained doctors working here. Interesting view that, but not what I was trying to get at. Though it’s worth some more thought.

Really though it’s about Lh choosing to take exile in order to pay less tax. He’s actively chosen to live outside Britain so he doesn’t pay tax here. In my opinion that is wrong and he isn’t pulling for Team Britain. In the same way that Branson et all do the same. They are, of course, still British though, nationality has little to do with where you pay tax!

Good on Elton John btw, didn’t know that about him.

At the end of the day I am just a man venting frustration at how people choose not to muck in to help when the country is shafted. I would still pay my dues, no matter what.

There point was that they should pay tax

Making them parasitic if they don’t? Hence I don’t really deserve the pic (though I 😆 )

The point appeared to be that the UK government had supported LH because whilst it was actually McLaren who had, McLaren hadn’t paid sufficient taxes to directly cover the education, health care etc. of all their employees and so their activities are “subsidised”. In the same way the activities of any other company are “subsidised” as I pointed out. Of course the question in that case is where do all the other taxes come from? I suspect McLaren makes substantial payments directly to the taxman which aren’t anything to do with corporation tax…

Had to work in Monaco 2 weeks every year around this time of year for about ten years. The place is awful, horrible horrible horrible nasty lifeless town (even though it was all expenses paid 5* hotel opposite the casino). I’d rather pay tax than live there (though i suspect that most don’t really “live” there.

I didnt think he drove for Mclaren

I didnt think he drove for Mclaren

😆 – you could always try googling

So Is anyone that leaves the uk a parasite, or just successful people? A doctor that trains at the expense of the uk then goes overseas to help refugees?. Or are we just anti rich people leaving, at what £ do we set the bar? Lewis has worked hard and been successful, yes he’s overpaid but that’s the market. He should get to lives where he wants.

So Is anyone that leaves the uk a parasite, or just successful people?

A working doctor is not the same as running off to a tax haven.

Are you really trying to compare a person leaving the UK to do humanitarian work with the poor with a multi millionaire[ 88 and rising] leaving the UK to have even more money 😯

Just when you thought STW could not do a worse comparison/analogy/question

Face Palm

100% vat on stylish gold chains and diamond earings should get back when he returns.

I’m not sure that there’s much incentive for him to stay in the UK really, his chosen career has him traveling all over the world anyway, why not take your disgusting wealth and go live somewhere with nicer weather surrounded by similarly filthy rich people?

I’d not begrudge Hamilton the right to live wherever he chooses, or the right to hold a British passport, so long as his tax arrangements are legal and above board in the jurisdiction he resides in, what’s the actual complaint?

what’s the actual complaint?

😀

That the op feels if he was in LH’s situation he would want to give more back. I agree with him.

Exactly A-A, thanks.

Fwiw, I an not anti rich, quite the opposite, people should be encouraged to succeed and I am happy for people if they are successful and earn a lot of money, good luck to them.

The ‘actual complaint’ cookeaa is nothing to do with his passport, nationality, or where he chooses to live. It’s that he’s choosing to live outside Britain to avoid paying tax here. A small percentage of his ‘disgusting wealth’ might help people in real need right here in blighty and I think it’s sad he doesn’t give a damn and chooses to opt out of that in order to make himself more ‘disgustingly wealthy’.

I believe the complaint was too much tax for Lewis Hamilton. Apparently Monaco can sort out their affairs without spending large amounts of money of education, healthcare, nuclear weapons, etc, and as a result can keep their taxes very low.

Remember when Sean Connery stuck his oar in on Scottish independence and was almost universally slapped down since he’s lived in Spain for decades?

People can live where they want but I think there is something to what the OP is saying. If Hamilton lives in Monaco, pays (some) tax in Monaco then shouldn’t he represent Monaco or France when he races? Should he be eligible for Sports Personality of the Year etc etc…or does he only lose his British credentials once he’s retired and irrelevant.

I think it’s sad he doesn’t give a damn and chooses to opt out of that in order to make himself more ‘disgustingly wealthy’.

How do you know? Do you know how much he gives to UK charities?

I wonder how many millions in revenue the brand Lewis Hamilton generates in VAT and corporation tax.

Hmmm, SPOTY is voted for by British people so far as I am aware, so clearly this resentment isn’t universal, plus what does it really mean? That the sort of people who vote for stupid popularity competitions like SPOTY think LH is teh awsomez…

Men… There are far greater injustices in the world to get worked up over…

Men… There are far greater injustices in the world to get worked up over…

Sexist.

I could edit it back to “meh” but I think I should let that particular auto-correction stand… Works much better

😀

Anyway… By the standards of this argument / discussion / thread I reckon the Richest “British” Sportsperson is…..

Mark Webber.

Ten years in F1, drove for one, if not the, best funded teams on the grid, hugely popular, got offered a bucket of money by Porche to go there after F1, not flash so won’t have blown it all like a footballer, lived in Buckinghamshire pretty much all his professional life.

He’s an Aussie of course, but pays his taxes here and that’s all that counts eh?

Richmars, I don’t know how much Lh gives to charity, and nor do I care because that is completely irrelevant anyway!

The point I made is he isn’t paying f#@#ing tax here by choice!…

Tomorrow I will write to hmrc and say I don’t want to pay income tax nor NI on my paltry salary any more just because I don’t want to. I will pay the equivalent, or as much as I want to instead, to the RSPB. Can’t see anything going wrong there now Richmars, huh…

A working doctor is not the same as running off to a tax haven

I wasn’t saying it was, hence the ? I’m just curious as to where you think we should draw the line.

How do you know? Do you know how much he gives to UK charities?

So he left to move to a low tax area so that he could pay even more of his personal wealth to charity and not to avoid UK tax. Furthermore it was not done to make himself more wealthy but, I assume, poorer?

May I ask how you know this is the case as it seems most unlikely?

We all know why he went, lets not pretend otherwise.

Nil?

Lewis isn’t British, listen to that ridiculous accent

Jools, that’s a genuine Lol!

SAS78, it was your ‘he doesn’t give a damn’ comment I was more concerned about. None of us know if he gives a damn or not, but a quick search suggests he does give money and time to charities.How much, and whether it’s more or less then the tax he doesn’t pay no one knows.
I’m just not letting my preconceived view of LH fit the evidence.

I remember popping round to the Mum’s for Sunday cuppa and picked up on of the supplements. Inside was a big LH interview in which he stated he loved England and would never leave for tax reasons.
Inside 48hrs the news of his emigration hit the papers.
Oh how I laughed.