April 2011 all hail the massacre that is increased NIC but there is light at the end of the tunnel – salary sacrifice schemes and employee car ownership schemes to name but a few.

The PBR as to be expected was an election based exercise – do they think we are all stupid, put off the nasties until we are back in power!?! and bring forward  “for one year only” increases in some benefits. This was certainly getting back to the old battle lines between the parties – labour: earn under 20k and we are the party for you, conservatives, earn over 20k and we’re the party for you – well actually no because there is a whole band of people caught in the middle who technically speaking “get screwed” every time.

So we have action against avoidance schemes – now remember avoidance schemes are legal, it’s evasion that’s not. This employment tax expert hopes that as much effort is put into getting people to pay tax who should rather than hammering those that are genuinely trying to get the excessive demands of our tax system correct. Offshore accounts – it’s your final warning, it really, really is this time and so it goes on the number that have come forward is minute compared with the problem – so let’s be a bit more creative to get these people back into the tax system

and don’t get me started on garlic peelers and painting summer houses – yes the MPs expenses debacle carries on  – but that’s for another day …