Tim Worstall

Let’s Try This Argument Again Shall We?

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The answer is simple. The UK government gave it the excess. I mean
that. It gave it the rest – some £233 million of excess VAT. This
happens because England and Scotland share a ‘common purse’
agreement on VAT. This means Scotland’s VAT is paid into the UK
Exchequer, in effect. And then the UK gives it a payment in exchange
based on a formula which is unpublished but which clearly has nothing
to do with the real level of economic activity in Scotland.

To put this another way, the UK is simply giving Scotland the
income it needs to run its government so that it need not raise it from
its own population, and as importantly the tax exiles and their
companies that are located there. That means the UK is paying Scotland to be a tax haven.

Entirely true of course, but what do we do about it?

In

2 responses

  1. MarkS Avatar
    MarkS

    Is Richard Murphy for real. He describes himself as a qualified accountant but strikes me as a cross between an Anglican priest and a tax inspector. Would you employ this man to do your accounts? Good God! He believes in ethical accounting which appears to translate into a demand to pay up every last penny whether you really owe it or not. I suggest that he leaves accountancy and goes to work in the public sector. His grubby little pressure group – Tax Justice Network – seems nothing more than a front for the hand-wringing Guardianistas who worry that they have too much and would prefer the government to divest them of their wealth. I imagine the man wears sackcloth and ashes as a matter of course. He is the John the Baptist of the chartered accountants.

    Reply
  2. Martin Avatar
    Martin

    Your point is…what, exactly?
    Must something be done?
    And if for Ellenvanin, why not Jersey?

    Reply

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