Scottish Parliamentary Elections Sweepstake

[robin]

The US decided to tax any US citizen on their full world wide income regardless of where they "live" most of the year I believe - i.e. there is no non-domicile tax equivalent - US citizens pay US tax regardless of where they live (but they are allowed to deduct local income tax paid, typically).

<10% of US citizens living abroad actually pay these taxes, though!

Cheers,
Robin

[Mikie711]

D the point was that the reason for them leaving was their tax bill being so expensive it prompted them to leave/work tax free. It takes a lot for someone to uproot their life and move abroad with or without a family. It's not as hard as it sounds to do but you do have to enjoy travelling or find somewhere to stay that you really like. As for their long term goals I have no idea but a few years tax free is certainly appealing if only to save up a nest egg for the future.
As long as they keep their stamp (NI) up to date then they remain eligible for NHS and pension as they have nothing to do with income tax. You can pay either class 2 or 4 NI as we are paid in a foreign currency, don't work for a UK company and do not work in the UK.

[woody]

On our flight back from Thailand 18 months ago I was sat next to an oil worked from NE England who works offshore in the North Sea and lives in Thailand when off rotation. Fairly big commute but I can see the upsides.

[Corranga]

I guess the reality is that there probably aren't that many people who can stay out of the UK for long enough to do that (O&G is more of a corner case than the norm - which would cause a much bigger impact to Scotland than the UK)

Even halving the tax most likely wouldn't entice them back, as that would still leave 25k (going on 150k earned = 50k paid / 2) which is probably still enough for them to 'holiday' elsewhere, especially places like Thailand where things are cheaper anyway since they pay tax nowhere else, especially since they have gone through the trouble of setting up in a tax free way anyway. I guess the balance is that if you encourage them back with a really low tax, then you make more from them in VAT etc. Still probably not worth it on the whole.

Chris

[Mikie711]

Probably right in that it would be hard to attract them back but it is still a lot of revenue lost non the less. Not just the income tax but that their disposable incomes are being spent else where.
Back to the original point, is it not better to set your tax rates lower as an incentive to attract people/businesses rather than hike them to cover expenditure in the short term.

[jason]

When I worked offshore (globally, not N Sea/UK) I encountered dozens of British colleagues over the years who had chosen to live overseas. Without exception theirs was primarily a lifestyle choice (the full range: anything from climbing/skiing in the Alps to partying <cough> in Thailand). Even if their decision brought financial benefit it was never high on their lists.

Obviously that's just those who I met and YMMV, but no financial incentives would have attracted those back to the UK/Scotland.

[campbell]

I was taught that Tax Avoidance is legal interpretation / implementation of the rules, and Evasion is outright disobedience of them and rightly punishable.

The press latched on to the term Avoidance Schemes, inadvisably coined by HMRC boffins, and after high profile cases like Jimmy Carr, they chuck the term Avoidance about at the same level as common criminality etc. Shakes head.

"Tax Planning" is the new way to describe socially acceptable interpretation of the rules. So be it.

[thinfourth]

When i worked on ship i sailed with many norwegians

All had one thing in common

None of them lived in the high tax socialist utopia of Norway

Be wary of anyone who promises high taxes = paradise