Demonic avoiders

KEY POINTS

• The public perception of tax avoidance.
• What is the definition of a profession?
• The extent to which tax professionals must act according to public expectation.
• The perils of not keeping in step with public opinion.

The way the public views tax avoidance raises various challenges for tax practitioners and their professional bodies the former chief executive of the Law Society Des Hudson told chartered tax advisers in his address on 12 May 2015.

He offered definitions of tax avoidance tax evasion and tax planning before moving to discuss the disconnect between what professionals have been taught to think about avoidance and evasion. He paraphrased a recent Financial Times article:

“Tax avoidance is the practice of using legal means to pay the lowest amount of tax possible. It is different...