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Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer has indicated there will be a High Court challenge against the carbon tax because he has advice the legislation is unconstitutional.

The legislation has passed both houses of Parliament and is due to come into effect in the middle of the year.

The Coalition has promised to repeal the legislation if it wins the next election.

Mr Palmer, who is a financial backer of the Coalition, first threatened to challenge the legislation last year and now says he is going to act on it.

"Our advice is that the carbon tax in its current form is unconstitutional, and that's recognised in the legislation itself when it says if it's found to be unconstitutional," he told the ABC's 7.30.

"Now, I think the constitution of Australia's much more important than having a number of lawyers or Parliament trying to slip around it.

"The constitution sets out how it should be changed, how the states should vote - the majority of Australians have a democratic right to vote." When asked on precisely what grounds the tax is unconstitutional, Mr Palmer said: "I can only go on the advice that I'm given, and so we'll be looking forward to the challenge." Mr Palmer says the legal action will be brought on by the companies he owns.

"The companies I own - who are large corporations - have got the rights to go to the High Court, that's what it's set up to do," he said.

"That's the country we live in - freedom of speech.

"We've all got the right to say what we think.

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Palmer to challenge carbon tax in High Court

Eleven posts at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, in west London, were filled in this way, including Nick Johnson, the chief executive of its housing arm, whose company was paid more than 900,000 over a four-year period.

The council was so concerned about Mr Johnsons payment arrangement that it commissioned a report by the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers on whether it risked facing a bill for unpaid tax.

The report said: Normally the position of chief executive is considered to be an office holder.

"On that basis there would be a medium-to-high risk that there was a PAYE obligation on Hammersmith and Fulham Homes Ltd."

Craven District Council, North Yorks, paid eight staff through limited companies, while St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Suffolk, and Ashfield District Council, Notts, each had five.

Several councils admitted paying staff through external companies but were unable to provide figures, while others were unsure.

Some officials may be paying PAYE through their limited companies but the arrangements mean they have the option to pay themselves via dividends, which are taxed at a lower rate.

They also potentially allow them to pay less in national insurance contributions.

Mrs Hodge said her committee would pursue the issue, adding: This is a tax avoidance scheme which is totally wrong.

"When you are a public servant it's not right you should be paid in a way that avoids tax.

Read this article:
Dozens of council staff paid through limited companies to 'avoid tax'

Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer has indicated there will be a High Court challenge against the carbon tax because he has advice the legislation is unconstitutional.

The legislation has passed both houses of Parliament and is due to come into effect in the middle of the year.

The Coalition has promised to repeal the legislation if it wins the next election.

Mr Palmer, who is a financial backer of the Coalition, first threatened to challenge the legislation last year and now says he is going to act on it.

"Our advice is that the carbon tax in its current form is unconstitutional, and that's recognised in the legislation itself when it says if it's found to be unconstitutional," he told the ABC's 7.30.

"Now, I think the constitution of Australia's much more important than having a number of lawyers or Parliament trying to slip around it.

"The constitution sets out how it should be changed, how the states should vote - the majority of Australians have a democratic right to vote."

When asked on precisely what grounds the tax is unconstitutional, Mr Palmer said: "I can only go on the advice that I'm given, and so we'll be looking forward to the challenge."

Mr Palmer says the legal action will be brought on by the companies he owns.

"The companies I own - who are large corporations - have got the rights to go to the High Court, that's what it's set up to do," he said.

Read the original:
Palmer taking carbon tax to High Court

BLACKPOOL, England, March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Almost 100 posts at local councils across the UK are being filled by limited company contractors and many of the high earners are using tax avoidance schemes, according to the BBC.

Findings by a Freedom of Information request by BBC Radio 4's File on 4 programme show that several councils employ staff through limited companies but Margaret Hodge, the chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said the situation was a "tax avoidance scheme which is totally wrong."

According to the discovery, dozens of high earners are allowed to make their own tax arrangements rather than be paid through the PAYE system but the Local Government Association said that councils adhere to the strict HM Revenue & Customs tax legislation rules.

The FOI request showed that Hackney Council in London had the highest number with 39 of its permanent staff being paid through external companies; whereas Hammersmith and Fulham Council in the capital had 11 posts filled in a similar way. Moreover, Craven in North Yorkshire had eight staff paid in this way and St Edmundsbury in Suffolk and Ashfield in Nottinghamshire had five.

Mrs Hodge said that people who set up a scheme to avoid paying tax is "income forgone to the public purse" and issues such as these would be pursued. She added that she fears HMRC lack the expertise to stay ahead of clever private sector operators who set up complex tax avoidance schemes.

Sir Merrick Cockell, chairman of Local Government Association, said that organisations sometimes have to meet short-term staffing needs through interim contracts because it provides flexibility and reduces potential costs.

Recently the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association warned MPs to rein in the rhetoric against personal service companies and limited company workers because it fears that genuine self-employed contractors could be stigmatised and wrongly perceived as 'tax dodgers'.

An expert contractor accountant like Nixon Williams can help freelancers pay the proper taxes by working out the finances on your behalf. They can help contractors maintain all the books legally and accurately.

Media Contact Details Company Name: Nixon Williams Town: Blackpool Country: UK +44(0)1253-362000 info@nixonwilliams.com

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MP Warns That Council High Earners are Using Tax Avoidance Schemes

EDITORIAL

Must shoulder some of the blame ... Wayne Swan. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

NONE of the main parties has come off looking good in the standoff over the proposed cut to the company tax rate linked to the minerals resource rent tax.

The new tax, which in its latest guise will fund a reduction in the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 29 per cent, has plagued Labor since it was recommended by the Henry tax review two years ago. Henry suggested the special tax on miners could fund a 5 percentage point reduction in the company tax rate, in large part to address the challenges faced by companies on wrong side of the mining boom.

That the cut has shrunk to just 1 percentage point is a reflection of Labor's mishandling of the reform. Even before the Labor government wilted under pressure from the mining industry, it was not proposing to deliver Henry's full recommended cut.

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The muddle is remembered for contributing to the downfall of Kevin Rudd as prime minister but blame also lies with the Treasurer, Wayne Swan. Had he done a better job of consulting the industry, and promoting the original tax to the electorate, businesses may today be looking forward to a much bigger tax break. This ineptitude cost Labor, and the country, a much more significant reform.

But the Coalition is also on shaky ground. Its opposition to the mining tax means it stands in the way of a tax reduction to business - one of its core constituencies - at a time when sentiment is fragile and many companies in key economic sectors are under great stress. Businesses outside mining could be forgiven for questioning why the party believes that staying on side with the miners is more important than tax relief for the vast majority of firms.

Now the Greens have intervened to put the entire measure in jeopardy just days before the tax was expected to become law. They want the

1 percentage point company tax cut restricted to businesses with a turnover of less than $2 million. The Greens leader, Bob Brown, says it ''doesn't make sense'' to give big business a tax cut but does not explain why. There is a strong argument that this tax cut should be available to companies of all sizes. The Greens proposal also undermines one of the fundamental aims of business tax reform - to make the entire corporate tax system more internationally competitive. Business is being let down by all sides of politics in this row.

Excerpt from:
Tax reform by a thousand cuts