Five days to answer a question!

[Jenny]

What Jimmy Carr did is not really on the same scale as Cameron to be fair.

[Glyn_Wigley]

In what way?

[Dagenham Rover]

Legally correct fair enough,  however after lambasting others for doing the exact same thing is morally wrong and that is where the problem is

[BobG]

I don't get this 'give hundreds of thousands and pay no tax'. I am well aware that you can give somebody something of value (though I'm not sure cash is included for this purpose) and the tax they pay on it is a sliding scale depending on when the giver pops his clogs. Survive 7 years and there's no tax.  Fair enough. But tgat's for things like houses. Not cash. The IR are very explicit in their documentation about exactly how much cash you can give somebody. They even specify what you can give it for while remaining exempt from tax. Basically, you can give 3 grand a year to anybody. Give more to someone, and they pay income tax on it at their marginal rate. You can give a bit more when your child gets married, and grandparents can give a smidge too but really, it's very very clear: you can't give cash except in trifling amounts without the recipient paying tax on it.

So how come Cameron has twice been given £100K and, apparently, not paid any tax  on it? I want to know how he's managed it. I'm going to suggest it to to my Mum pdq.

I'm going to ask my accountant. If I get an answer I can understand, anyone want to hear it?

BobG

[Muttley]

Bob - there's no income tax payable by the recipient on gifts, unless the giver dies within 7 years in which case it falls uner the inheritance tax rules, subject to taper relief depending on the date of the gift v the date of death.

If your old mum has got more than £325k of assets, it would be worth her gifting sums now to reduce any potential IHT liability (I could also send you my bank account details in case she wants to reduce the liability as far as possible!)

[Muttley]

For me it's about the principle - I expect politicians to have high moral principles (and they generally claim to so have)...and crucially I expect them to act in accordance with those principles.

Cameron has acted contrary to his publicly stated principle that tax avoidance is "not morally acceptable" and his stated intention to tackle tax evasion. I don't think your average cash in hand plumber has ever stated he holds such high principles especially when he's probably not benefitting from 200 grand gifts from his mam!

Do we think Corbyn has no savings interest?

I've no idea what you think, so it's a bit difficult to state what our jointly-held opinion is, if indeed we both have the same opinion.

For what it is worth, I would imagine that Mr Corbyn has a small level of interest-bearing savings, probably in the Co-Op bank, although I'm not sure what that has got to do with my post above.

[MachoMadness]

Dennis Skinner got suspended from the debate today for calling Cameron "Dodgy Dave". Beast of Bolsover indeed! The video is worth a watch: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2016/apr/11/dennis-skinner-suspended-for-dodgy-cameron-comments-video

[Sammy Chung was King]

I'd like to know how if the normal man in the street does it, it's a big fine or even a prison sentence, but not the same for them. How can people have any confidence in a prime minister who is found out to be lying?, because we all suspect they do most of the time anyway!.
Isn't it a sackable offence for a man already very unpopular?. Nice to see Skinner put his opinion in!

[BobG]

Thanks Muttley. You're dead right. I've just had an email from an accountant setting me straight.

Thsi means then that whilst Cameron has not paid any tax so far on his 2 lots of £100K he still might do so. It depends on when his Mum dies.

Cheers

BobG

[drfchound]

If any of us have an ISA that is tax avoidance isnt it?

No, ISA is a government approved tax break to encourage saving in line with its fiscal policies, same with tax relief on pension contributions.

To say these schemes are tax avoidance is equivalent to saying that not paying tax on the first £10k (?) of your income is tax avoidance.

No, an Isa is where you put money to avoid having to pay tax on the interest, irrespective of how much you have in it.

No, an ISA is the Government's way of getting you to give them your money for a number of years for them to play with, with a tax break incentive for you instead of interest.

That is very cynical.

[Glyn_Wigley]

If any of us have an ISA that is tax avoidance isnt it?

No, ISA is a government approved tax break to encourage saving in line with its fiscal policies, same with tax relief on pension contributions.

To say these schemes are tax avoidance is equivalent to saying that not paying tax on the first £10k (?) of your income is tax avoidance.

No, an Isa is where you put money to avoid having to pay tax on the interest, irrespective of how much you have in it.

No, an ISA is the Government's way of getting you to give them your money for a number of years for them to play with, with a tax break incentive for you instead of interest.

That is very cynical.

It's true, it's you that thinks it's cynical. It's exactly the same principle as Premium Bonds - a way of people giving money to the Government as a low-cost way of funding government borrowing. It's also part of monetary strategy as it's a mechanism of controlling the fluid money supply.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

If any of us have an ISA that is tax avoidance isnt it?

No, ISA is a government approved tax break to encourage saving in line with its fiscal policies, same with tax relief on pension contributions.

To say these schemes are tax avoidance is equivalent to saying that not paying tax on the first £10k (?) of your income is tax avoidance.

No, an Isa is where you put money to avoid having to pay tax on the interest, irrespective of how much you have in it.

No, an ISA is the Government's way of getting you to give them your money for a number of years for them to play with, with a tax break incentive for you instead of interest.

That is very cynical.

It's true, it's you that thinks it's cynical. It's exactly the same principle as Premium Bonds - a way of people giving money to the Government as a low-cost way of funding government borrowing. It's also part of monetary strategy as it's a mechanism of controlling the fluid money supply.

Apart from you can access your money at any point?  Even so, money in an isa is not particularly efficient either and largely a poor choice given there's other options. Unless you're pretty well off.

[Glyn_Wigley]

If any of us have an ISA that is tax avoidance isnt it?

No, ISA is a government approved tax break to encourage saving in line with its fiscal policies, same with tax relief on pension contributions.

To say these schemes are tax avoidance is equivalent to saying that not paying tax on the first £10k (?) of your income is tax avoidance.

No, an Isa is where you put money to avoid having to pay tax on the interest, irrespective of how much you have in it.

No, an ISA is the Government's way of getting you to give them your money for a number of years for them to play with, with a tax break incentive for you instead of interest.

That is very cynical.

It's true, it's you that thinks it's cynical. It's exactly the same principle as Premium Bonds - a way of people giving money to the Government as a low-cost way of funding government borrowing. It's also part of monetary strategy as it's a mechanism of controlling the fluid money supply.

Apart from you can access your money at any point?  Even so, money in an isa is not particularly efficient either and largely a poor choice given there's other options. Unless you're pretty well off.

I said it was low-cost; to the government that is, compared to other methods of borrowing open to them.

[BobG]

Premium Bonds are a low cost borrowing mechanism for the government too. Very low cost actually at the moment - and I'm not meaning current interest rates make it so. I'm meaning the government are being quite mean with the 'interest' given out as prizes despite the current already low interest rate.

BobG

[idler]

I won something ten months out of twelve last year.👍

[drfchound]

Idler, out of curiosity, were your prizes from older numbers or new(ish) bonds?

[idler]

A mixture of both hound.
All my prize money goes straight back in.
I know it used to be the case that new numbers seemed to come out regularly. Some lads at work used to have a syndicate where they put £10 each in a month and bought £100s worth. The new numbers won regularly.
I won £75 this month. I have never had a single winning bond over£50, this months were three £25s. The wife won £25 but she has the max invested.
I just leave my money in as it's easy access and the banks aren't paying much.

[drfchound]

mmmm, Interesting.
I have quite a lot but haven't drawn anything for quite a number of years.
I was thinking of trying the "sell the old and buy new ones" strategy.
I did have a good run myself many years ago when i had a few prizes within a short space of time.

[idler]

I have a few scattered but bought a lot together after getting divorced and selling my house.
I did have the maximum but haven't bought any since it was raised so I do have a few chances.
My son-in-law bought £7,000 worth when he got left money by his grandad and won £1,000 within two or three months.  I think that there has only been one occasion in the last year or so when neither me or the wife won.

[drfchound]

CAN I RUB AGAINST YOU PLEASE??

[Filo]

CAN I RUB AGAINST YOU PLEASE??

Pervert 😀

[drfchound]

You know me too well love.

[RedJ]

What exactly is a bond and how does it work? I gather it's a way for the government to raise some money?

[Glyn_Wigley]

What exactly is a bond and how does it work? I gather it's a way for the government to raise some money?

There's more than one type of bond, which one do you mean?

[RedJ]

Well, I don't know, as I didn't know there was more than one type for a start... best just google it.

[BobG]

A gierl I used to live with had £9000 in premium bonds. At the time - it's a few years ago now - the belief was that you won one prize per thousand pounds invested per year. She only ever won small prizes but she did consistently well enough that her winnings paid for most of a skiing holiday for the pair of us each year. But interest rates were higher back then so the prize fund was quite a bit bigger. These days I bet you'd be lucky to get one prize a year for 5,000 quid.

BobG