How To Avoid Tax - Get Rich

At last a credible figure in the world of celebrity has come out and identified the need for greater transparency in the tax system (should have mentioned public servants' expense accounts but maybe that's for next week). None other than Dragon Den's star, Duncan Bannatyne, in his column in Today's Telegraph identifies that super rich people are the ones who most easily avoid paying tax in this country - sometimes none at all.

Lord Levy and Lord Sainsbury famously paid naff all tax at least one year and then became Government Ministers. Now we have the raft of bankers, and board directors of conglomerates who either award themselves large tax free entitlements like pensions or some other form of cleverness. At least two people knighted by this Government use the 'non-dom' status to avoid paying huge sums in tax - Easyjet's Stelios and Arkadia's Philip Green are the culprits. Green sets a bit of a record having one single bank loan converted into a £1.2 billion dividend which was paid to his wife, who happens to qualify as 'non-dom'. Neither paid a penny of tax on it, and he is so proud of himself.

It's frankly disgusting. Why on earth we allow it is beyond the wit of sane individuals but, as always, the richer you are the less tax you will pay because you can afford to find ways not to pay your fair share. It has to be stopped - the burden of tax is getting heavier and much of it is thanks to the greed and senseless actions of the richest people in the world who caused this financial meltdown.

Yet they seem to treat Britain as a slot machine with a fault - it always pays out for every go, tax free.

Bannatyne makes a very important point from a business perspective also. Such super rich, tax free people have a competitive advantage over those who cannot claim 'non-dom' status and who pay their fair share of taxes as these people have more of their profits taken by the Government which cannot be re-invested in their businesses. The super rich use this competitive advantage to leverage even greater amounts of money from banks and funds to acquire more businesses and make even more money - and at each turn they cover their tracks carefully.

This Government has granted special tax status to such people and we must stop it. In particular, private equity people are doing more harm than good and the argument they are saving businesses and jobs does not stack up. Every business attempts to do the same thing and has to pay taxes. They have special status for doing so and making vast profits - and in many of the cases their gains are short term as the companies they buy and sell are left to whither.

Yesterday was a chance missed yet again by Brown and Darling. When will we make sure that everyone who makes profits in doing business in this country in whatever form pays the same level of tax as everyone else?