蜜芽传媒

Good morning

Secrets tend to have a way of getting out; this week it鈥檚 the huge secret revealed by the Panama Papers implicating some of our global leaders in tax evasion and avoidance on a mind boggling scale. The first political scalp appeared to have been landed yesterday when it was reported that the Prime Minister of Iceland has resigned.

I thought I鈥檇 become immune to political and business scandals but as journalists unravel the details of the billions of pounds involved and new names are uncovered I find that I can still be shocked. When 蜜芽传媒 News told me that the UK鈥檚 annual loss from tax avoidance and evasion is 拢7.2bn - which amounts to 10 per cent of our education budget 鈥� I find I can feel angry too.

It鈥檚 the job of financial advisers to tell people about the legitimate ways they can avoid tax. Not everyone will approve of them, but they are legal and it鈥檚 up to the individual to decide whether or not to use them. But the use of tax havens for illegal purposes where taxable assets are hidden means the rich get richer and the poor poorer. Money begets money. A key practice in Islam is the prohibition of usury which is the payment or receiving of interest. This is on the grounds that it hampers the wellbeing of a just and equal society. The Quran teaches that wealth is meant to be shared with all members of society so that it continues to be distributed across all communities. In one verse God says 鈥淭he usury that is practiced to increase some people's wealth, does not gain anything with God. But if you give to charity, seeking God鈥檚 pleasure, these are the ones who receive their reward manifold.鈥� (Quran 30:39). Other religions have their guiding principles about how money is to be used. As a child I learnt the saying of Jesus that 鈥渋t is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.鈥� It was only yesterday that I learnt he was probably alluding to a narrow gate in Jerusalem rather than a sewing needle!

Tax is a really complex issue, it has a lot of grey areas and there are individual judgements to be made about where to draw the line. What you decide works for your tax arrangements may be different to me. But beyond staying within the confines of the law, we have to ask ourselves the bigger questions. What do our beliefs and values teach us about the society that we鈥檙e part of and how we contribute to it 鈥� including financially, and importantly what secrets we really want to keep and how do we deal with them when we鈥檙e found out.

First broadcast 6 April 2016

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