On my mind With

I ALWAYS try to pay my tax with a smile. Unfortunately, HMRC want money.

I also try to keep my ears to the ground over tax matters but end up paying through the nose.

But we found out last week in the embarrassing battle of the inept and puerile that the President of the USA was reported to have paid little tax.

It is comforting to know that the Welsh Government has made it clear that businesses whose headquarters are based in a recognised ‘tax haven’ will not be eligible for coronavirus financial support.

Rebecca Evans stated at the time that “it is only right that businesses which are not contributing tax payments to our economy should not benefit from this scheme”.

People ask what the difference is between tax evasion and tax avoidance.

The answer is that the former comes with prison fare and the latter is the legal exploitation of loopholes in the system.

Of course, what is legal is not always moral and the wealthy and the powerful have always found ways to systematically avoid tax.

Their argument is that they employ lots of people, bizarrely forgetting that they could earn nothing without their employees. In reality, their behaviour is destructive and cynical.

It is the corporate tax havens which fuel the pernicious race to the bottom and it is British overseas territories which take the top three positions in the corporate tax haven index.

If American politics is a comedy act, British complicity in global tax avoidance is a scandal.

There are plenty of companies who enjoy the comfort of the tax haven.

Unfortunately, as they line their pockets it is you and I who have to bear the burden of tax in providing our essential public services.

■ Follow Graham on Twitter@geetdee