Your opinions on tax avoidance? +rep

[Matthew]

I'm looking into the ethics of taxation and I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on tax avoidance/planning.

Strictly speaking, tax avoidance is not illegal, but is it immoral?

It has been argued that companies, just like individuals, have no moral obligation to pay more tax than they have to. Do you agree? If a company which was involved in tax avoidance loses competitiveness as a result of being made to pay 'the fair amount' of tax and goes out of business/cuts jobs, would your opinion on the tax avoidance change? What if someone close to you worked for the company and so lost their job?

Interested in your thoughts, I'll +rep serious replies

thanks!!

[Chippiewill]

It's difficult really. In the case of companies I personally wouldn't fault them for it. It's important to bear in mind that companies aren't people, they're designed to maximise profits. The ones which don't avoid tax lose their competitive advantage and fall behind. It's basically survival of the fittest.

Individuals on the other hand can follow an ethical code and not avoiding tax is one of those - that being said it's doubtful that many people against it would feel the same way if the positions were reversed.


I'm looking into the ethics of taxation and I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on tax avoidance/planning.

Strictly speaking, tax avoidance is not illegal, but is it immoral?

Be careful that you don't conflate ethics and morals - they're not the same thing.

[dbgtz]

I completely understand why companies do it and don't have a huge problem with them doing this in most cases especially when they use to the money to invest in projects which bring employment. However, the main problem I have with it is smaller companies can't really do this to the same degree, so are at an inherent disadvantage compared to big chains. At the end of the day, if somebody doesn't like a company that avoids tax then they should vote with their wallet as this has proven to be effective :)