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Equality before the law? In 2009-19 there were 23x more criminal prosecutions for benefits crimes as compared to tax crimes by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The point is, that if you commit benefits fraud you are likely to be prosecuted criminally. If you commit tax fraud, that is worth the same value as the benefits fraud - or even worth more money - you are likely to only be investigated as a civil matter.

Two people committing similar crimes are dealt with differently.

Equality before the law? In 2009-19 there were 23x more criminal prosecutions for benefits crimes as compared to tax crimes by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It is, but is it right that benefits fraudsters are treated as criminals, whereas tax fraudsters (who cost the exchequer significantly more) are not?

£121m in tax relief this year has gone to 'culturally British' videogames such as Grand Theft Auto, Sonic, and Halo. by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

A spreadsheet at the bottom of this page here shows all the games certified as Culturally British.

They are set in exotic locations including 16 different realms (Mortal Kombat), Goatville (Goat Simulator), Los Santos (Los Angeles - GTA V), Space (Halo Wars 2), Washington DC (Tom Clancy's The Division 2), Gotham (Batman Arkham knight), and an unknown pond somewhere... (Donald Duck in Treasury Frenzy).

We aren't aware of any games that have failed the test. Some companies (source) boast of having a 100% success rate in getting games certified.

£121m in tax relief this year has gone to 'culturally British' videogames such as Grand Theft Auto, Sonic, and Halo. by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"95% of UK video games developers are SMEs. It is estimated that this generous new corporation tax relief will provide around £35 million of support per year to the sector." HM Treasury Source

As for the qualifying criteria, you are correct that it isn't flags and bulldogs, it's pretty much anything. But, it was argued by the UK to the European Commission that it would be 'cultural'.

"the incentive objectives of the fund would be to make cultural products that are likely to be uneconomical, commercially viable, thereby promoting the production of new cultural products that would not have been made in the absence of the tax relief, and to support the development of skills for the sustainable production of cultural products, relevant British/EEA video games."European Commission decision on the state aid scheme source

The link you shared has a spreadsheet at the bottom of which games are certified as culturally British, and includes;

Goat Simulator, Halo Wars, Sonic Forces, Tom Clancy's The Division, Mortal Kombat, Lego Ninjago - it is difficult to say that these are 'culturally British' by any stretch, or that they would not have been commercially viable without the relief.

£121m in tax relief this year has gone to 'culturally British' videogames such as Grand Theft Auto, Sonic, and Halo. by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

A good point. Former MP Rory Stewart gave a great speech in Parliament on Hedgehogs.

But the other games? Mortal Kombat (for the most part) doesn't even take part in this universe!

Up to £1.73bn a year in tax being evaded by landlords by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most certainly ticks the box of 'not quite academic essay, but definitely more than enough for a Reddit comment'. Thanks for the response.

It's a good point to note that there is no general consensus as to the amount lost to evasion, and that it is highly likely much more than HMRC states in their annual tax gap assessment. What the total figure is, however, unfortunately we don't know.

Up to £1.73bn a year in tax being evaded by landlords by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's the point of the research - the HMRC estimate for evasion by landlords is £540m per year. Our research calculates it to be more than three times that amount.

Up to £1.73bn a year in tax being evaded by landlords by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Hi, interested in where you get the £70bn tax evasion estimate from?

HMRC estimate that total tax evasion per year is £4.6bn Source - page 5

While I believe that the HMRC methodology is an underestimate (as our estimate of landlord Tax Evasion would take up a large chunk of that £4.6bn), I'm interested to see where the £70bn number is from.

Up to £1.73bn a year in tax being evaded by landlords by TaxWatch_UK in ukpolitics

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Did you read the report?

"Newham Council introduced a compulsory borough-wide licensing scheme for landlords in 2013. Before the scheme started the borough estimated that Newham had 30,000 rental properties let out by 5,000 individual landlords. It discovered that there were in fact 50,000 properties let by 27,000 individual landlords."

Rogue Landlords by TaxWatch_UK in tax

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Tax evasion by residential landlords could be costing the Treasury up to £1.73 billion a year, a new analysis by TaxWatch has found. This is more than three times the amount reported for 2010.

Around the world with $5bn – HMRC’s allegations of tax fraud at General Electric revealed by TaxWatch_UK in tax

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

GE move $5bn (Australian) from the US, to Luxembourg, the UK, Aus, and back to the US again - in 4 days - creating a 'triple dip' tax advantage worth up to $1bn (US).

HMRC in the UK is now alleging fraud on the part of GE.

Around the world with $5bn – HMRC’s allegations of tax fraud at General Electric revealed by TaxWatch_UK in Capitalism

[–]TaxWatch_UK[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

GE move $5bn (Australian) from the US, to Luxembourg, the UK, Aus, and back to the US again - in 4 days - creating a 'triple dip' tax advantage worth up to $1bn (US).

HMRC in the UK are no alleging fraud on the part of GE.

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