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14 April 2016 / David Greene
Issue: 7694 / Categories: Opinion , Tax
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Avoidance or evasion?

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David Greene wonders what will flow from the Panama revelations for lawyers?

Many moons ago when I took the Chartered Institute of Taxation exams (never could get my head round VAT) the difference between evasion and avoidance was drummed into you. Strangely, there remains utter confusion over the difference between the two words by people who should be able to differentiate, as each has been called upon to comment upon David Cameron’s financial and fiscal connections with Panama in the past week. As I write, Cameron is standing up in the Commons to defend himself and answer the House’s questions on his affairs. There may be many moral and political questions over his conduct but in law at least he has done nothing wrong.

Canal journey

Home to a one-time errant canoeist, Panama does not otherwise generally feature on the radar of the average Person on the Clapham Omnibus, save to think of the eponymous canal and, perhaps, its recent drug-torn violent history. It’s only 25 years since the US invaded the country to put

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NEWS
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
The treasury has sought to reassure the legal profession over concerns about cost, bureaucracy and independence when the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) takes over regulation of anti-money laundering compliance
One out of two barristers has come under pressure from clients to act unethically, according to the results of this year’s Barristers’ Working Lives survey
The Court of Appeal has held the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) was wrong to set aside a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decision on unfair pricing of phenytoin, an epilepsy drug
A flagship employment law reform is due to come into effect on 1 July, extending unfair dismissal rights to employees after six months in their job instead of two years
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