Never one to allow a sensible argument to get lonely for the absence of a more outrageous assertion to stand in its support, he supposed that mineral mining on the moon would be in place before prices sky-rocketed. While they were right to point out that the wager hardly measured the condition of mankind, his forthrightness in making it was breathtaking. It safeguards some of your assets and is subject to a less onerous tax regime.Take advantage of ‘retirement relief’ from capital gains tax, paying a lower rate when you leave your own company. Or reinvest a gain tax-free in unquoted shares in another business.
Re-investing in a farm has been a popular choice for people taking advantage of this relief.. Julian Simon will go down in history as the man who bet Paul Ehrlich, the famous author of The Population Bomb (1968), that the price of a basket of metals would go down between 1980 and 1990, and not up as those he characterised as doom-mongers predicted He won, and the neo-Malthusians never forgave him. Technically, these have to be open to other investors, but it is easy to put people off with a very high minimum investment and management fee.Spending a financial year abroad is still a favoured method of avoiding particularly heavy tax liabilities due at a particular time. Those working full-time overseas for a full 1 April – 31 March year do not pay UK tax, although they may liable to pay tax elsewhere. But by either choosing a country of temporary abode carefully, or by travelling enough, tax can be minimised.Otherwise, live in a tax haven permanently.Get rid of your company car, which has become an increasingly heavily taxed perk. Instead, persuade your employer to pay you a tax-free mileage allowance for a car you lease from a ‘Structured Employee Car Ownership Plan’.Create a non-beneficial trust for your spouse or children.
Owners sold the shell to a new owner who took the cash and was not liable for the tax – abolished July 1997.Going …Set up a “private” authorised unit trust to postpone capital gains tax on investments until the most convenient date – such as a year you’ll be spending abroad. Replaced by Enterprise Investment Scheme giving 20 per cent tax relief to investors in unquoted trading companies.Turning your company into an empty shell with just a bit of cash and a lot of unpaid tax, putting the profitable business into a new company. For example, private use of a mobile telephone provided by employer – taxed as a perk worth pounds 200 a year from April 1991.Salary payment in the form of the transfer of the right to be repaid a debt owed by customers. Tuesday is expected to bring a draft of specific measures along with a draft general anti-avoidance proposal for consultation.Tax Loopholes, old and newGone …Payment in gold bars, coffee beans or other commodities, avoiding income tax and national insurance contributions – outlawed in November 1993.Other benefits in kind in place of salary.
