Dolce and Gabbana JAILED

[lemons]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22977174

Dolce and Gabbana sentenced to jail for tax evasion
Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce (r) and Stefano Gabbana in a 2011 file image The designers denied all the charges against them

Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been sentenced to jail in Italy for one year and eight months for tax evasion.

The pair were not at the trial and deny the charges.

They are accused of hiding millions of euros from Italian tax authorities.

Dolce and Gabbana have not yet given a public comment on the sentence and are likely to appeal the verdict. They are said to be unlikely to go to jail any time soon.

Their customers have included Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss and Bryan Ferry.

The investigation by the Italian authorities began around six years ago as part of a government plan to crack down on tax avoidance.

At the hearing on Wednesday, the judge ruled that the designers moved their brand to a Luxembourg-based holding company Gado in 2004.

He said they had done this to avoid declaring taxes on royalties of around 1 billion euros (£833m; $1.3bn).

Prosecutors alleged they sold the business for well below actual market value.

They were initially cleared of the charges at a previous trial in April 2011 but Italy's highest court overturned that ruling, ordering that the case should be sent back.

THEY ARE RICH WHY DO THEY AVOID TAX

[MKR&*42]

Good lol, tax evasion shouldn't be taken lightly and it still disgusts me that some companies/people are still willing to happily avoid it - inc. in the UK (although it's not illegal here what they do I think, it's still very unethical and gives a bad impression of a business - remember how Google, Starbucks, Amazon got slated by the media for it?)

[FlyingJesus]

Italian government should pay THEM for being fab

[e5]

They avoid it to be richer! Nothings good enough for people these days

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22977174




THEY ARE RICH WHY DO THEY AVOID TAX

[myles]

my mum stores all her money in her mattress is that tax evasion

[Shar]

as much as it angers me to hear this, d&g aren't the first people to do it. the reason rich people get away with it so much is that its not really being actively tackled.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Good lol, tax evasion shouldn't be taken lightly and it still disgusts me that some companies/people are still willing to happily avoid it - inc. in the UK (although it's not illegal here what they do I think, it's still very unethical and gives a bad impression of a business - remember how Google, Starbucks, Amazon got slated by the media for it?)

You confuse tax evasion with tax avoidance. Two entirely different things.

General point: I am all for tax avoidance, indeed - the more tax avoidance the better. Why is there a disgust or supposed moral benefit to paying huge amounts in taxation to a government who simply piss it up the wall along with taking out huge debts in our name? I see no huge moral benefit in giving this government anymore money, indeed.. I think it ought to be starved of money and the same goes for the American government too.

If people want to be outraged - show some outrage at the trillions wasted by the government, of which it does nothing to earn in the first place.

as much as it angers me to hear this, d&g aren't the first people to do it. the reason rich people get away with it so much is that its not really being actively tackled.

The same applies to the post above, tax avoidance and tax evasion are two different things hence why these two have been found guilty of tax evasion (aka along the lines of cooking the books) rather than companies/wealthy individuals who engage in tax avoidance which is simply the process of finding a lawyer to find ways for you to pay less of your hard earned wealth to a greedy government.

Tax evasion = illegal.
Tax avoidance = legal.

[Ardemax]

You confuse tax evasion with tax avoidance. Two entirely different things.

I am all for tax avoidance, indeed - the more tax avoidance the better. Why is there a disgust or supposed moral benefit to paying huge amounts in taxation to a government who simply piss it up the wall along with taking out huge debts in our name? I see no huge moral benefit in giving this government anymore money, indeed.. I think it ought to be starved of money and the same goes for the American government too.

If people want to be outraged - show some outrage at the trillions wasted by the government, of which it does nothing to earn in the first place.

Though this is true (the pissing up the wall part) companies by law have to pay the correct amount of tax outlined by the law of the land and by avoiding it they are breaking the law... quite simply.

We can't "pick and choose" which laws to follow and which ones to ignore based on what we think is "morally" right. Just like a judge has to rule based on the laws made in Parliament, not from his own opinion or beliefs.

[MKR&*42]

You confuse tax evasion with tax avoidance..

Can you explain the difference for me as I assumed they were simply synonyms?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Though this is true (the pissing up the wall part) companies by law have to pay the correct amount of tax outlined by the law of the land and by avoiding it they are breaking the law... quite simply.

We can't "pick and choose" which laws to follow and which ones to ignore based on what we think is "morally" right. Just like a judge has to rule based on the laws made in Parliament, not from his own opinion or beliefs.

I'm not arguing that, as i've said below and before - tax avoidance is not breaking the law although evasion is.

Can you explain the difference for me as I assumed they were simply synonyms?

Evasion is by illegal means (for example submitting false accounting and tinkering with company/tax books) whereas avoidance is simply using legal methods to avoid tax, like moving your money to the Cayman islands and spending three months there a year.