'Britain could tackle this but leaders choose not to': readers on the Paradise Papers

As more revelations are published from the Paradise Papers, an investigation by the Guardian and global media partners, we follow your reaction

Philip Hammond and Theresa May
The prime minister this week insisted she wanted ‘greater transparency’ but she would not commit to a public inquiry or open registers. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

Here are some of the comments posted by Guardian readers on articles offering opinion and analysis of the investigation that have most resonated with fellow readers. Click on the links in the comments to expand the conversation and read more.

‘This behaviour needs to be tackled globally’

I have had the dubious privilege of working with the super-wealthy and in my experience it is extremely hard to avoid this sort of behavior unless it is tackled globally. These mega-wealthy individuals employ astonishingly cunning and knowledgable tax consultants who allow them to profit from every global loophole. It is a global problem and requires a global solution to tackle it, but since the early 20th century when optimistic writers and thinkers like HG Wells used to tackle it, it's fallen off the global agenda. In fact it is simply hard to see these days that there IS even a global agenda with world trade skewed so horribly in the rich west's favour and barely any country paying more than lip-service to tackling global warming or environmental devastation.

‘Britain could do all sorts of things [to tackle this]. Our leaders choose not to’

"Britain can tackle tax avoidance"

Britain could do all sorts of things. Our leaders choose not to. Most of them are very happy with the status quo. They have also been very successful at laying blame for funding shortage elsewhere (immigrants, the EU, benefit cheats). Hence, they have no reason to address it.

‘If it is perfectly legal to avoid tax then everyone should do it’

I have decided that if it is perfectly legal to avoid tax then everyone should do it. how about a quick "how to"guide on the internet so we can round up a few million people to put their earnings and savings offshore. We could possibly get to a point where only a few unlucky individuals were actually having to pay tax, all perfectly legal of course.
From the comments I have seen so far HMRC would be OK with that wouldn't they?

‘The old “it’s legal” argument is right up there with the pro-gun lobby in the US’

It's legal

Yeah, well it bloody shouldn't be.
Tax avoidance should be up there with 'benefit fraud' as means by which the scurrilous drain this nation of money, and I imagine tax avoidance would net us much more money than benefit fraud ever could.
Fact it the old 'it's legal' argument is right up there with the pro-gun lobby in the US, with both serving as apologists for immoral practices that are long overdue an overhaul.
Once upon a time it was legal for the husband to inherit all a wife's money/estates upon marrying her, just as it was illegal for people to be practising homosexuals. Laws are not written in stone, they are there to be reconsidered and challenged over time.
Tax avoidance by the rich and powerful should be fucking criminal.

‘Bermuda’s former foreign minister is right …’

Bermuda's former foreign minister has said that it's "not our job to collect your taxes."

He's right.

Likewise, it's not Britain's job to allow any company registered in Bermuda to own, operate or otherwise dispose of assets in the United Kingdom.

‘Criticisms of tax havens are not an attack on the so-called free market’

Right wingers need to accept that criticisms of tax havens are not an attack on the so-called ‘free market’.

How can they even think that tax havens have any proper role to play in free markets? The very idea of free markets is dependent upon everyone having equal access to capital, the market and information.

Without that how is the free market free?

Tax havens exist to make sure the opposite happens. Their raison d’etre is to enable unequal access to capital so the rich can hide their wealth away where competitors cannot get access to markets and fair competition and information is supressed.

So, right wingers can’t say they support the free market while tolerating tax havens and paying lip service to do ‘’doing something about it’’, though I know they have been doing that for years.

We know the reasons why right wingers defend tax havens: they don’t really like free markets, (they’re lying); they don’t like democracy, (tax havens undermine elected governments) and they don’t like government services, (which costs taxes).

‘The current system of nation states trying to tax these individuals is not fit for purpose’

Increasingly people work and operate globally, and corporations certainly do. The current system of nations states trying to tax these individuals is not fit for purpose and much of the tired anxiety in this story is silly. Lewis Hamilton earns money racing in 20 countries, lives in Monaco and Colorado, and uses an established plane leasing company in the IoM. Is that really a shock and horror tax evasion?

I am a Brit in the US and pay full tax liabilities here. The US are extraordinarily tough on people paying them full tax on all global assets. Tax avoidance here involves trusts and other structures that keep the money in the country, generally.

‘The UK has been, for quite some time, a tax haven of global significance’

What is all this surprise about? The UK has been, for quite some time, a tax haven of global significance. It has specific legal, administrative and financial structures in place to facilitate tax avoidance, on a global scale.

Tell people the truth: this is a very significant export industry for Britain.
And yes, this is you and me, voting, again and again, to perpetuate our economic model: a fly-by-the-pants economy facilitating tax avoidance globally and selling itself accordingly.

We can shout our righteous indignation about lost taxes, but deep down we all know: we get what we deserve. Until now we had the pitiful excuse of blissful ignorance. We never cared much to look anyhow.

‘As long as it is legal, nothing will change’

As long as it is legal nothing will change. And to add, I think many have lost confidence in how our taxes are spent. We have seen no great changes over the years even during the good times and yet spent billions . Social mobility has remained stagnant, we have a burgeoning underclass: money is not the solution, we need better ideas and shift in paradigm

‘This is an ethical outrage and costs us all’

Surely taking action on tax havens and avoidance is a political no brainer. Who, apart from the tiny percentage of beneficiaries, would not support a radical change to our laws in this respect? Those in favour of obscenely wealthy individuals and corporations avoiding huge amounts of tax - 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%? Versus everyone else. Come on, whatever your political colour, this is an ethical outrage and costs us all. It should be a central plank of any manifesto, whether hard left, soft left, centrist, soft right...