Choosing his words very carefully, British Prime Minister David Cameron has finally admitted he profited from an offshore investment account – but so what.
Cameron has been caught up in his own rhetoric by confessing that he has benefited from tax avoidance in the past.
According to his statements about tax avoidance since winning his first election, he has rigidly insisted tax avoidance is wrong.
Well he should know all about the rights and wrongs of avoiding tax seeing how he has actively taken part in the dark art.
Cameron’s name came up in the Panama Papers and he has trotted out all the well-worn excuses of not having any offshore investments now or any that will pay him or his wife in the future.
Political hypocrite
Interpreting political doublespeak, everyone could see that he had not said anything about the past, but the longer he refused to admit his pre-Prime Ministerial offshore financial activities, the more tongue twisting he had to come up with.
Eventually he put his hands up and said yes I practised tax avoidance up to 2010.
Cameron has had to squirm and likely will face some stuff hitting the fan in the future whenever tax avoidance comes up for debate.
Frankly, like millions of other taxpayers, he has done nothing wrong. He made an investment, declared the income and gains on his tax returns and that’s it.
The point is he is a hypocrite who has spent years chastising other taxpayers who have acted no differently.
Tax avoidance is legal
All they are guilty of is exercising their legal right to minimise the amount of tax they pay by utilising legal methods.
Politicians like Cameron put the legal structures in place that allow them to avoid tax providing they are open and honest about their offshore arrangements by reporting them on their tax returns.
If the prime minister should make clear that tax avoidance is legal, not morally wrong and that no one has any obligation to pay any more tax than they owe.
He should also spell out that to hide assets and cash without paying the tax due is tax evasion and a criminal offence.
Tax avoidance and tax evasion are not the same – no grey area fudges the two. One is legal and the other is not. Cameron stood on the legal side of the line and he should clearly explain that putting finances offshore does not automatically make someone a tax criminal.
