Menace To Tax Dodgers David Cameron Has His Own Tax Dodging Exposed By The Panama Leaks

from the set-the-world-to-PANIC-MODE dept

One of the more darkly entertaining aspects of the massive Panama Leaks has been watching exposed politicians attempting to reconcile past promises to get tougher on financial wrongdoers with their own tax-dodging efforts.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has spent several years in crackdown mode, as the New York Times notes. Going all the way back to 2012, Cameron has made a habit of promising better regulation, stricter enforcement and harsher penalties for tax-dodging corporations while selling himself to voters and small businesses. He also singled out individuals, like comedian Jimmy Carr, for his use of "dodgy tax-avoiding schemes." He also promised to close a loophole that allowed wealthy UK residents to avoid paying taxes and suggested those that did should face prison time.

He capped it all off with this 2015 election pledge:

“Tackling tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance and tax planning is an important part of our long-term economic plan,” Mr. Cameron said ahead of his Conservative Party’s electoral victory.

He has repeatedly said that “no government has done more than this one to crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.”
Obviously, things are different when it's the Prime Minister doing the tax dodging. His first reaction, when asked about holdings he inherited from his late father, was to develop a sudden interest in privacy.
Asked on Monday whether she could confirm that no family money was still invested in the fund, Mr Cameron's spokeswoman said: "That is a private matter".
To his credit, Cameron swiftly walked back that defensive statement. He pointed out that, yes, he did own some shares in an offshore holding scheme as the result of an inheritance, but sold them off in 2010. His wife still owns shares in an offshore trust, but those are declared yearly on her tax returns. Better yet, he has acknowledged that his first response was the wrong response.
Addressing the Tories' spring forum, he said he was to blame for the handling of revelations about his holding in his late father's offshore fund.

Days after questions were first raised, the PM admitted this week he had owned and later sold units in the fund.
Cameron has followed through on his promise to release his tax returns so they can be examined for any other irregularities. However, Cameron's openness is not wholehearted. What has been released only shows his tax payments since selling off his shares in the offshore holding company. Pre-2010 documents -- when he still may have benefitted from the tax shelter -- have not been released.

He also hasn't extended his transparency to cover his advisors or members of his party, so the party's tough stance on tax dodging still may only mostly extend outward.

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Filed Under: david cameron, hypocrisy, offshore entities, panama papers, tax dodging, uk


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  • identicon
    Baron von Robber, 11 Apr 2016 @ 12:36pm

    The CDC has warned that the spread of affluenza is much worse than thought. They caution that if you have a sudden onset of wealth, you should immediately seek a cashectomy via a shell corporation.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Ninja (profile), 11 Apr 2016 @ 12:41pm

    Considering the UK Govt has been giving the middle finger to privacy his early statements are pretty rich. Let's give him the benefit of rehab. Maybe he engaged in such evasions but changed hearts. He's still a totalitarian moron for all I care.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    ECA (profile), 11 Apr 2016 @ 1:07pm

    i know how to fix this

    How about...
    USA money has to STAY in the USA..
    Tall all banks OUTSIDE the USA, that any transactions FROM the USA can be Kept by those banks..
    Except where they are concerned with purchases of good to be Sent to the USA..

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 12 Apr 2016 @ 12:35am

      Re: i know how to fix this

      Your suggesting is rather confusing and meaningless without some clarification.

      "USA money has to STAY in the USA"

      Define "USA money". Also, what does "USA money" have to do with a story about the UK prime minister?

      "Tall all banks OUTSIDE the USA, that any transactions FROM the USA can be Kept by those banks..
      Except where they are concerned with purchases of good to be Sent to the USA."

      Are you honestly saying that all money sent from the US can be confiscated by foreign banks unless specifically marked for purchasing goods to import? That's a lot of business you're shutting down there.

      Also, you've at least therefore decided that tourists from the US should have their money taken if they need to get it transferred to them, plus that all US ex-pats should not benefit from any income they have originating from the US. Foreign banks will love you for this plan, but I don't think most Americans would.

      I somehow think you haven't through this through - unless I'm missing something from your confusing way of posting, of course.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Roger Strong (profile), 11 Apr 2016 @ 1:11pm

    "Oh, now he’s interested in privacy."
    - Edward Snowden on David Cameron

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    streetlight (profile), 11 Apr 2016 @ 1:32pm

    When the anit-privacy hawks have their data revealed...

    It'll be interesting how the anti-privacy hawks will feel if they get their way regarding the installation of back doors in hardware and software and their most private and secret information is made available for all to read. For sure as soon as the back doors are installed they will be hacked and there will be no data privacy for anyone unless stored completely off the Internet. Then again, there may be some advantages. Government may become very transparent!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2016 @ 1:57pm

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Paul Renault (profile), 11 Apr 2016 @ 1:59pm

    Land-value taxation would fix a lot of this.

    That is, replace income and sales tax with a hefty land-value tax, so that the government collects the same amount.

    See here:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax
    and
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Apr 2016 @ 12:42am

      Re: Land-value taxation would fix a lot of this.

      There is a problem with land valuation taxes, it often has no correlation with money on hand to pay the taxes. Indeed in the UK, death duties, which are a tax on the value of possessions, has destroyed many an estate by forcing sales of artworks, and then the land to meet the tax bill.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2016 @ 2:00pm

    Cameron's todo list:

    Fuck a dead pig (check)

    Avoid taxes (check)

    Kill privacy

    Kill security

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Nigel, 11 Apr 2016 @ 5:25pm

    Icleand's PM

    Poor guy was asked about this in an interview and had no idea the shit had hit the fan.

    Enjoy...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ia8UALfBA4

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Call me Al, 12 Apr 2016 @ 7:33am

    Misguided reporting

    For once Techdirt is writing about an area I actually know about in detail, since it is connected with my work.

    The shouting and screaming about tax dodging by certain parts of the UK press (and now Techdirt) is misguided and generally stems from a lack of financial education and knowledge. There are plenty of very dodgy people investing offshore and we'll see more of it was the Panama stuff is unpacked and with a bit of luck they'll be some people absolutely nailed to the wall by the relevant tax authorities (I have popcorn on standby). But we should focus blame where it should lie and not drag in the innocent.

    The fund Cameron was invested in is what is known as a "distributing fund". This means that it was registered with HMRC (our IRS) and was required to distribute all of its income to the investors every year. The investor would then report the income in their country of residence (in this case the UK) and pay tax accordingly.

    When the asset was sold the disposal was reported on Cameron's tax return.

    There was no tax benefit to Cameron from having invested in this fund.

    An interview with a tax laywer noted that a better headline for the whole thing would be "Man makes modest investment and pays all his taxes."

    They made a mess of explaining all this, mostly because it actually requires explanation and people these days seem to think that if something takes over 140 characters to explain then it must be dodgy.

    I'm really dissapointed in reading this article on this site. I tend to believe what you write about because I lack the expertise necessary to disagree. Seeing the above suggests I should be more wary than I have been.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      nasch (profile), 13 Apr 2016 @ 4:06pm

      Re: Misguided reporting

      I think you missed the point. Tim wasn't accusing him of dodging taxes, he was pointing out that he bungled his response to the situation and still isn't being as transparent as he ought to be.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Call me Al, 17 Apr 2016 @ 1:18pm

        Re: Re: Misguided reporting

        Except he literally said "Obviously, things are different when it's the Prime Minister doing the tax dodging."

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          nasch (profile), 18 Apr 2016 @ 8:52am

          Re: Re: Re: Misguided reporting

          Except he literally said "Obviously, things are different when it's the Prime Minister doing the tax dodging."

          Yep, that is true. I don't see that as the main thrust of the article but that was mentioned.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Apr 2016 @ 10:50pm

    I think I can hear Jimmy Carr chuckling somewhere...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2016 @ 1:43am

    And so, the biblical "do as I say not as I do" strikes again.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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