Is Barack the breakthrough on tax havens?
At last, something may be done about offshore tax havens. It’s long been a sore of mine that the Government pursues us for tax but turns a blind eye to the use by those who can afford it of secretive bolt-holes. Gordon Brown said he would attack them when he became Chancellor and didn’t. But times have changed and the Government needs all the cash it can get. So Alistair Darling is indicating he will have a go. He wants to review our relationship with the Isle of Man for starters. But the election of Barack Obama may be the biggest encouragement. Here he is on the stump: We lose $100 billion every year because corporations get to set up mailboxes so that they can avoid paying a dime of taxes in America. Imagine if you got to do that… Change, it seems, is finally coming.
