Investigative journalist and former tax-inspector Richard Brooks charts how the UK has become a global tax haven that serves the super wealthy, all with the Government's help. Discover:

* Why thousands of British state schools and NHS hospitals are owned by shell companies based in offshore tax havens

* How British companies like Vodafone strongly influence tax laws

* Why multinationals like Google and Starbucks can operate almost tax-free in the UK

* How the taxman turns a blind eye to billions in illegally evaded tax in secret Swiss bank accounts

* How footballers like Wayne Rooney use image rights companies to reduce their tax liability

Unpicking the tangled mess of loopholes that well known multinationals, bankers, and celebrities use to circumvent tax, this is a bold manifesto for a system where we all contribute out fair share.

'A call to arms and a tour de force. It is about time someone explained to all of us what is required if we don't want our country, our cities, and our schools to enter a cycle of decline where paying tax is just for the little people.' -- Danny Dorling - Author of Injustice and So You Think You Know About Britain? 'Richard Brooks is a digger and a troublemaker who niggles away at difficult subjects in a meticulous, punchy and highly effective way.' -- Alan Rusbridger - Editor, The Guardian 'Richard Brooks exposes the very British scandal in which WE are inflicted with austerity whilst corporations and wealthy individuals are permitted to cart their tax obligations to havens over which the UK government has far more influence than it pretends.' -- Jon Snow - Channel Four News 'At a time when tax avoidance is riding very high on the political agenda, this book explains in easy-to-understand language how the complexities of artificial tax avoidance have corrupted fair taxation in Britain, and the forces behind it - not only the super-rich and multi-nationals, but government itself as their agent. Written by a former tax inspector who has turned his inside knowledge on the Treasury and politician gamekeepers-turned-poachers, it is detailed and comprehensive - and shocking - whilst also being an enjoyable and wicked read, spiced with scurrilous examples of breath-taking cheating and greed.' -- Michael Meacher MP

About the Author

Former tax-inspector Richard Brooks reports for Private Eye on a range of subjects and has contributed to the Guardian, the BBC, and many other media outlets. With David Craig he was co-author of the bestselling Plundering the Public Sector. In 2008 he was awarded the Paul Foot Award for Investigative Journalism. He lives in Reading.

Reviews

'Excellent... Brooks is particularly good at showing why we should be angered by all of this... Let's hope this fine book helps redress the balance'

* Independent on Sunday *

'Fascinating... not only does [Brooks] have a near-encyclopaedic knowledge, he also has an ear for resonant detail.'

* Financial Times *

'Important... Brooks demonstrates that financial amorality is endemic among Britain's elite'

* The Times *

'This year's indispensable book.'

-- Nick Cohen * Observer *

'A "must read": Richard Brooks exposes the financial immorality of the rich as never before'

-- Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, authors of bestseller The Spirit Level



Book Information
ISBN 9781851689354
Author Richard Brooks
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oneworld Publications
Publisher Oneworld Publications