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The profession would benefit from a new definition of tax avoidance.
KEY POINTS
- It might not be illegal but tax avoidance may be morally questionable.
- The standard definition distinguishes different kinds of activity.
- Court defined hallmarks of tax avoidance and tax mitigation.
- Can there be tax avoidance if transactions are what parliament intended?
- Parliamentary leaders should correct public misapprehensions and facilitate a meaningful debate.
If one message has got through over the past 12 months it is that the term ‘tax evasion’ relates to illegal activities whereas ‘tax avoidance’ is not illegal but morally questionable. Deliberately paying less tax than the law demands is illegal and that is the end of the story. But there is a spectrum of activities on the lawful side of the line those that range from the innocuous to the aggressive avoidance arrangements...
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