Dot Wordsworth

What’s the difference between ‘tax evasion’ and ‘tax avoidance’?

[iStock] 
issue 15 April 2023

I used to avoid paying tax. I opened an Isa for my pitiful savings, for example, to avoid tax on the interest. But now I daren’t say I avoid tax because HMRC is encouraging people to report me for it. ‘Report tax fraud or avoidance,’ is the headline on a public-service government website.

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