Taxation: Avoidance Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Taxation: Avoidance

Lord Tebbit Excerpts
Wednesday 20th October 2010

(13 years, 7 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Sassoon Portrait Lord Sassoon
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My Lords, I think that Philip Green has done the nation a single service in exposing the extraordinary amount of waste in government that was left unattended to by the Labour Government for 13 years. We will come on to the consequences of that later this afternoon.

Lord Tebbit Portrait Lord Tebbit
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My Lords, does my noble friend agree that an ounce of practical help is worth a kilo of words? Could he undertake to instruct the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, on how he could offer not to avoid tax by taking advantage of his personal tax allowance? He could start paying 40 per cent tax on all his income from the first pound. That would save him from avoiding tax, which is obviously what he wants to do.

Lord Sassoon Portrait Lord Sassoon
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I am grateful to my noble friend. One or two correspondents have written in to ask how they could volunteer cheques to the Treasury to help to reduce the national debt, but it seems that the Treasury does not yet have such a facility. However, if other people would like to contribute more in their tax, we can set up the necessary arrangements.