Sleight of hand

I ONLY KNOW one tax magician. He's Mark Lee head of Shaw & Co's London office and a member of the Magic Circle. If you really want to see your tax demand disappear Mark will wave it around a few times fold it up tightly close his fist around it and — hey presto — it will disappear. Unfortunately this will not stop the bailiffs knocking on your door a couple of months later and taking walking possession of your belongings.

According to BBC2's Money Programme last Thursday the profession is full of tax magicians all specialising in making the tax liabilities of the very wealthy disappear in a puff of smoke. The programme which featured contributions from HMRC Director-General Dave Hartnett had (in my opinion) two purposes. One of them may or may not have been obvious to the...