Is paying tax the right thing to do?

There’s nothing like a controversial statement to get the conversation started and as a law-abiding responsible tax adviser paying the right amount of tax is always going to be the right thing to do surely? As we approach the most hotly anticipated Budget for some years not necessarily in a looking-forward-to-it kind of way the element of choice in tax compliance and equity in tax system design is being brought front and centre as the new Labour government looks to make some hard choices for the ‘broadest shoulders’.

Of course the concept of broad shoulders ties in neatly with ideas of progressive taxation whereby those with the greatest capacity to pay pay the most. This further adheres to notions of community whereby those who ‘have’ look after those without.

Many of our taxes in the UK are progressive income...