HSBC: Time to take the kid gloves off in handling tax evaders and avoiders
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Version 0 of 1. In response to yet more revelations (HSBC files show how Swiss bank helped clients dodge taxes and hide millions, 9 February), politicians are talking tough on tax avoidance, tax evasion and unjustified tax breaks. However, they have not yet convinced the public that they are serious. Tax dodging is costing governments – both in the UK and in developing countries – billions. This is money which is vital for tackling poverty. But despite the positive rhetoric from politicians, our polling shows that only one in five people believe political parties have gone far enough in their promises to tackle tax avoidance by large companies. All parties are going to have to work hard to win back public confidence. The problems are multi-faceted and complex. A critical part of the solution is dealing with the secrecy of UK tax havens – as David Cameron promised to do as G8 chair in 2013, a pledge Ed Miliband attempted to trump on Saturday – but more is needed. Only a commitment to a full package of reforms will send the message that the problem is being taken seriously. This is why we, along with over 60 economists and academics, a range of faith leaders, responsible companies and more than 40,000 members of the public, have called for a commitment from all parties to bringing forward a tax-dodging bill in the first 100 days of the new government. Only this can convince the public that rhetoric will be turned into effective action.Jenny Ricks Head of campaigns, ActionAid, Christine Allen Director of policy and public affairs, Christian Aid, Duncan Exley Director, Equality Trust, Martin Drewry Director, Health Poverty Action, Toni Pearce President, NUS, Nick Bryer Head of UK policy and campaigns, Oxfam, Stephen Brown Director of Europe, The Global Poverty Project • Yet again a big company has been shown to be behaving improperly in relation to taxes. Recently it was suggested that Boots should be stopped from handling NHS prescriptions because of its abysmal record on paying its UK taxes. This excellent proposal should be extended to many other companies that similarly fall short. People caught fiddling more than the living wage should have their tax returns published Our country is fit to live in because of its essential infrastructure of transport, fire services, the police, education, the health service, the military and so on, all paid for with our taxes. So the next time a branch of Starbucks is burgled, let them sort it out themselves. When Amazon sends books to customers, using the public roads, it should pay a surcharge for every mile travelled. British American Tobacco pays no tax here, so how about doubling the duty on its cigarettes? I could go on. Only when direct action is taken against these immoral tax dodgers will they face up to their moral responsibilities.Neil HolmesBromsgrove, Worcestershire • Clearly the UK authorities are treating tax evaders with kid gloves (Catalogue of malpractice endorsed by bankers, 9 February). In addition to criminal prosecutions, people caught fiddling more than the living wage should have their tax returns published in full, with only their most personal details redacted. Further sanctions as part of restorative justice could include having to sign on every fortnight to visit hard-pressed public services and explain to their staff and users how their fines and future taxes would benefit them. As with MPs’ expenses, for far too long secrecy has allowed top-rate income tax payers to claim tax reliefs that they would be hard pressed to justify in public. Non-domiciled tax status must be abolished: it is farcical that Boris Johnson, with dual citizenship, has to pay US taxes, and yet British citizens can opt out altogether. As for those tax exiles and their families living in place like Monaco who have accepted public honours, there should be no hiding place: either they pay back the taxes they should have been paying like everybody else, or, like Fred Goodwin, their honours can be publicly withdrawn in a special issue of the London Gazette.David NowellNew Barnet, Hertfordshire • Your front-page article (HMRC knew of wrongdoing, but did not prosecute bank, 10 February) highlights the most shocking aspect of this whole sorry affair. We all accept some companies will commit fraud and that the economic system has been absurdly weighted in favour of the extremely rich. (If we don’t then why aren’t the streets full of angry protests?) But for the very people whom we employ and task with prosecuting such behaviour to collude in “sweetheart” deals that let perpetrators walk away with a 10% bill and guaranteed anonymity, while neatly paving their way for a post-HMRC career with the facilitators of the crime, is a sign that the system is no longer fit for purpose. Will any party offer a genuine alternative?Colin ReedGlasgow • It’s all fine and well to investigate HSBC and its former CEO Stephen Green for tax fraud at its Swiss arm, but the pursuit of truth and justice must not end there. This is a huge story. It implicates HMRC, the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority, who have clearly failed to act against HSBC. It involves the Treasury, which must explain what it knew and whether it approved the action (not) taken. Then there are the thousands of individuals, whose unethical – and perhaps criminal – behaviour has lost us huge sums in tax revenue. A key target for investigation must be HMRC’s former head of tax Dave Hartnett (a familiar name to readers of Private Eye), who negotiated not only the infamous tax deals with Vodafone and Goldman Sachs but also the coalition government’s tax amnesty for HSBC account holders. Following retirement, he went on to advise HSBC on financial crime governance – along with the former DG of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Bill Hughes. Who can we trust to get to the bottom of this monumental scandal?Mary BraithwaiteWye, Kent • HSBC needs to get its priorities right in questioning whether large cash transfers are for money laundering or tax evasion. Last year they queried whether my debit card payment of about £450 income tax to HMRC was above board. At the time I wondered how one could launder money by sending it to HMRC. In view of the latest revelations, perhaps they had never come across someone paying their tax before.Ros CampbellLeeds • I note that HSBC says “Major regulatory reform is under way” (to reduce tax evasion) and that “HSBC fully welcomes and supports these reforms” (9 February). It must be such a relief to the bank, which was presumably forbidden by law from reforming its own procedures in the past.Karl SabbaghNewbold on Stour, Warwickshire |