Oh well, everyone is getting their knickers in a twist over Jimmy Carr, Gary Barlow, and other people avoiding tax by sending their cash on holiday to a warmer climate. There are also calls for David Cameron to have the details of his tax freely available for everyone to see. The major problem is that he was one of the critics of Jimmy Carr's behaviour, for which he has apologised, and it is now seen as hypocritical of him to criticise someone else, whose tax affairs became public, when he is not prepared to reciprocate.
Why should the tax affairs of someone be available to public view?
Why should the tax affairs of the Cabinet of the Government be available to public view?
There is a Scandinavian country, I forget which one, has just that system in place. Interestingly, their privacy laws are stiffer than ours. A journalist was interviewed and asked if this was strange, his reply was that everyone was in the same situation, so why should it be strange? He also made the point that no-one looks at their next door neighbours tax returns, although they were perfectly entitled to do this.
Revealing the tax affairs of public servants would avoid the expenses scandal that cost some people their jobs, and others their liberty. The other advantage to this would be that 'we would all be in this together' which is something that the Government keeps on calling for.
The thousands of public sector workers have done their part, by having their jobs taken away, saving the country money. What about the rich paying the taxes that they are supposed to. Jimmy Carr has gone up in my estimation for recognising that he had made a mistake, rectifying it and apologising for it. Who is going to be next?
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