If Only Jolyon Maugham Understood Anything At All About Tax

This thing is QC’s are supposed to be the smart ones. Not something we’ve got much evidence of given Soapy Joe’s views on taxation:

Uber has argued it is just a ‘platform’ on which drivers can book fares, rather than a transport firm, and is therefore not liable to collect VAT, a claim that Maugham describes as ‘palpable nonsense’.

He said: ‘Tech companies need roads to deliver their products. They need the legal system to protect their intellectual property rights. They need a stable political environment. They need an educated workforce.

‘All of these things cost money, but they are not prepared to contribute to those costs.’

VAT is collected by a producer, not paid by it. It is consumers who bear the cost of VAT. That’s why it is known as a consumption tax. This is before we even get to the point about who pays for the roads – fuel and VED duty.

But then who needs facts or economics when there’s grandstanding to be done in pursuit of a title or gong?

A purely personal opinion here. That family background with David Benedictus. I have a feeling that the capering in the public eye is to gain that gong and thereby prove worth. Most unkind of me of course but…..