Nah, I'd say he's just building up anticipation.

When did you start making sense?

He's been shit again.

Wait a second, who's Jimmy Carr?

Edit: Oh, he's who I thought he was.

It was pretty reprehensible of Cameron to single out Jimmy Carr when this is clearly a massively widespread tax-avoidance tactic by the rich.  The decent thing would have been to refuse to comment on individual cases but to promise to address the issue of 'aggressive tax-avoidance schemes' directly, seeking changes in the law to make them illegal.

It's not as if this is news anyhow - many people have been banging on for ages about how unscrupulous many of the wealthy are in their tax affairs.

EDITED for clarity.

There's a fairly big difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance; one of which I think is fine.  If the rules allow it, and someone doesn't like it, they should change the rules!

Elmlea wrote:

There's a fairly big difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance; one of which I think is fine.  If the rules allow it, and someone doesn't like it, they should change the rules!

No, you're right.  I wrote 'evasion' when I meant 'avoidance'.  Regardless of current legality though, deliberately avoiding tax in such an 'aggressive' manner is morally reprehensible.  It is the duty of everyone who earns a wage in this country to pay their fair share in tax.  The 'but it's legal so it must be ok' defence doesn't wash.

I wish I had an MP3 of the House of Lords doing that ambient bellyaching thing during parliament.

It's also incredibly dumb of Cameron, opening him up to things like this:

Cameron family fortune made in tax havens

Ian Cameron took advantage of a new climate of investment after all capital controls were abolished in 1979, making it legal to take any sum of money out of the country without it being taxed or controlled by the UK government.

Not long after the change, brought in by Margaret Thatcher after her first month in power, Ian Cameron began setting up and directing investment funds in tax havens around the world.

I have no problem with tax avoidance, because, er. 

As has been said, if it's legal, then why shouldn't people take advantage of the fact?  If the government has a problem with that, then they should change the law accordingly.

One reason it's a problem is that the lower earners in the country are paying 10-15% of their income in tax and NI (and are increasingly being squeezed by current state of the economy) whilst top earnings (who can afford clever accountants) are apparently paying as little as 1%.  So the government closes a loophole that's currently being aggressively exploited by said top earners - they'll just find another one to crawl through.  Jimmy Carr (for whatever reason) was very quick to admit that his behaviour was indefensible.  I wonder if Sir Philip Green or Gary Barlow OBE or some of these other high profile tax-avoiders will do same or will continue to move money around offshore accounts, resign from their own companies or other such tactics in a brazen attempt to cling onto their vast wealth, whilst contributing a relative pittance to our economy?

Hence 'for whatever reason'.  He's right though - his behaviour is/was indefensible.

"I'm not paying my fair share in tax because they'll only piss it up the wall anyway".  Srsly?

Yes, it is empty.

"Agressive", lol. That's just spin.  It's the same principle.