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Yes Peter that is a good point. It has made no difference to my taxes but it does make a difference to donations. I must say it is something that I have only been aware of in recent year, making online donations.
True Keith, it seems that even some charities have to pay their CEOs before money gets to the cause. Our friend Bono is quite good at this sort of thing.
Barry, the example you give is exactly the sort of tax planning that none of us could really dispute. You help people like us all to make the most of our savings, this will never be anything other than good. The issue is with grand scale tax planning (what I poke fun at in #11). This is not an old lady paying a few thousand pound less, this is international tax gymnastics, allowing large companies pay next to nothing back to the country they earn their money in/from. I had a friend down to stay last weekend and she works for a large firm in the city, in 'international tax planning'. I can assure you, this isn't about paying a flat simple rate, this is about paying as close to nothing as possible...regardless of the complexity of tax rates. This isn't about envy, simply ensuring that everyone IS actually doing their bit, unlike the likes Phillip Green, who legally does some pretty amazing tax stunts...he probably paid less in tax last year than the little old lady you mention.
I have no problem with paying more in, I do think it's needed. But I don't want to think I'm the only one. It's the language of 'gold plated pensions' that is one of envy, not the call for a fairer system where the more well off pay in proportionally ( sometimes floated as the idea of fairness).
