Home Top

Married to the mob: John Gotti's grandson marries in 'ceremony worthy of The Godfather with mafioso, Hollywood A-listers, a $2.5m cash gift and partying until dawn at Long Island castle'
BREAKING NEWS: Mass shooting at Oregon college leaves dozens injured and up to 15 dead
Trump leads in USA Today poll but word-association game yields mess for The Donald as voters describe him as 'idiot,' 'jerk,' 'stupid,' 'dumb,' 'arrogant,' 'crazy,' 'nuts,' 'buffoon,' 'clown,' 'comical' and 'joke'
Investigators say Illinois officer was killed by two shots of his own gun and that NINE unidentified DNA samples were found at the scene - but they have not ruled out suicide
Putin signs decree drafting 150,000 conscripts into the Russian military... as Iran and Hezbollah prepare major ground offensive in Syria with air support from Moscow's bombers
Hurricane Joaquin upgraded to an 'extremely dangerous' Category 4 hurricane as Gov Chris Christie announces a state of emergency in New Jersey
It's a miracle (that anyone takes this preacher seriously): Zimbabwe prophet's attempt to prove he can 'walk on air' falls flat thanks to one rather obvious giveaway
Mother of murdered student Morgan Harrington consoles mom of her daughter's alleged killer Jesse Matthew and says she understands HIS family is suffering too
What's your heart's REAL age? Take this test to find out, as doctors most of us are old before our time...
EXCLUSIVE: Luxury hotels, all-night partying at posh clubs, endless freebies: Uber hosts TOP SECRET Sin City 'team building' junket for 4,800 employees from around the world (no drivers, please)
Five University of Alabama fraternity brothers arrested on hazing charges after allegedly ordering pledges to stand in buckets of salted ice which burned their feet
The millionaires' borough: Average sales price of a Manhattan apartment soars to record high of just under $1MILLION
Woman who dreamed of being blind had DRAIN CLEANER poured in her eyes by a sympathetic psychologist to fulfil her lifelong wish - and she's happier than ever
Could a test detect breast cancer BEFORE a tumour forms? Breakthrough means disease could be treated at earliest stages
Could your favorite wine be POISONOUS? 98% of reds from four US states contain 'high levels of arsenic'
Obese woman who lost 200lbs reveals new body on Tyra Banks' show six days after undergoing NINE-HOUR surgery to remove unsightly excess skin
First day of legal marijuana in Oregon: Shops lure recreational pot smokers with free food, extended hours and discounted drugs
Winning $310.5million Powerball ticket sold at Shell gas station in Three Rivers, Michigan and owner has yet to claim prize
Mother makes desperate plea for a kidney donor to help save her sick daughter with a note on her CAR... and so far 25 people have offered to be tested
Cops hunt for serial criminal, 31, after his mother and girlfriend are found 'shot dead' in their Ohio home
Mother claims school locked her autistic eight-year-old son in a 'box' - while another left him in a closet during fire drill
Are video games GOOD for you? 'Shoot-em-ups' can actually boost brain function, review suggests
'I was such a health freak that I missed Christmas dinner to go to the gym': Woman obsessed with 'clean eating' forced herself to only eat vegetables for a YEAR
'The regret and the guilt that I feel is immense': Tearful drama teacher, 36, sentenced to five years in prison for repeatedly having sex with 15-year-old student

It's not just economic, it's moral: Rich people should pay MORE tax, says author of Curious Incident

Published: 04:22 EST, 13 August 2012 | Updated: 06:51 EST, 13 August 2012

118

View
comments

The award-winning author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has said rich people should pay more tax to save others being hit by government spending cuts.

Mark Haddon, whose book has sold more than two million copies, spawned a stage version and is being adapted as a film by Brad Pitt, said he was ‘not asking just an economic question but a moral one, too'.

He said he had put his opinions in a letter to his MP, sent in February, which read: 'I'm a wealthy person. Austerity measures introduced by the coalition have caused real suffering to many people, but my comfortable life hasn't changed in the slightest.

Millionaire Mark Haddon is a known critic of the government. He wrote to his MP last February asking why rich people like him had been asked to contribute nothing

'Why have I, and people like me, been asked to contribute nothing?'

Haddon told the Sunday Times he had annoyed his accountant by insisting on paying all tax that was due rather than seeking to avoid it.

'I should be paying more tax,' he said. He revealed the letter was partly inspired by the US billionaire investor Warren Buffet, who has said he should pay more tax, as should other members of America's 'super-rich'.

Taking a swipe at the ex-Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond, Haddon said: 'There seem to be more Bob Diamonds than Warren Buffetts.'

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAX EVASION AND TAX AVOIDANCE

There’s a big difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance.

Whereas tax evasion could land you in prison for seven years, tax avoidance is the perfectly legal use of loopholes by celebrities, big business, and anyone else who can afford a financial adviser.

In 2012 Conservative Chancellor George Osborne promised to crackdown on ‘aggressive tax avoidance’ in his Budget speech.

Haddon, a known critic of the government, has accused the government as being 'a cabal of very wealthy people', out of touch with ordinary life, saying his experience of attending boarding school and Oxford University had shown him 'how easy it is for certain groups of people to become wholly insulated from ordinary life'.

The news comes just weeks after rich celebrities came under fire for using complex tax avoidance schemes to avoid paying tax.

In June comedian Jimmy Carr admitted to making a 'terrible error of judgment' when it emerged he used a complex scheme to reduce his tax bill.

The K2 tax-avoidance scheme Carr is said to have used enables members to pay income tax rates as low as 1 per cent.

Gary Barlow and fellow Take That stars Howard Donald and Mark Owen, and manager Jonathan Wild, are also said to have invested at least £26million in a legal investment scheme allegedly designed to avoid tax.

The BBC came under fire after it was revealed the corporation employed dozens of its top TV and radio stars through ‘personal service companies’ that allow them to minimise their contributions to the Exchequer.

The deals also allow the corporation to sidestep millions of pounds in national insurance.

Jimmy Carr, comedian, said he had made a 'terrible error of judgment' over his tax arrangements. His statement came after Prime Minister David Cameron branded the star 'morally wrong' for seeking to avoid taxes

The BBC insisted the arrangements were standard industry practice but agreed to review how it pays its big names.

Presenter Jeremy Paxman said bosses told him to set up a personal service company or risk losing his Newsnight position.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has insisted it did not give the green light for the controversial deals even though Mr Paxman suggested he had been told this by the BBC.

Novelist Mark Haddon said he and other rich people should pay more tax. His award-winning novel about a 15-year-old boy, Christopher, who has autism, is to be made into a film

While the BBC has not implied that any of the stars are using the deals – which may reduce presenters’ tax bills – to avoid paying tax, MPs and the media have raised questions about the practice.

In a letter to The Times in March, Mr Paxman wrote that the BBC ‘required me to form a company if I wanted to continue to present Newsnight. It claimed it had been told to do so by the HMRC’. HMRC flatly denied it would ever do this.

Exchequer Secretary David Gauke caused furore last month when he claimed that making small cash payments to cleaners and tradesmen was as bad as tax avoidance.

He spoke out as he gave a speech outlining plans to name and shame those who engage in aggressive tax avoidance schemes to avoid paying their fair share.

Under new plans, HMRC inspectors will force accountants who offer to shelter their rich clients from tax to hand over names of those using such schemes.

The Treasury published proposals to ensure the taxman knows exactly which celebrities, sports stars and millionaires benefit from tax-avoidance schemes.

Treasury Minister David Gauke laid out plans for the tougher regime, in which promoters of tax-avoidance schemes will be forced to provide HMRC with more information about their customers so that it can more easily identify the users.

Crucially, the Treasury plans to target those who run the schemes. Individuals managing or promoting tax-avoidance schemes are also subject to the rules, as well as their firms.

This will allow investigators to hold them to account even where a firm is dissolved, moved offshore, or an individual promoter moves to a different firm.