Professor Jim Stewart:

One problem in our tax system is its complexity. If one is in business one has to pay for tax advice. If one hires experts, who charge a lot, one will be able to use allowances in ways that one would not be able to do without that expertise, which is perfectly legal. The tax one pays becomes partly a function of the tax advice. In some cases there is no wiggle room, one has to pay the tax. In other cases there may be considerable wiggle room in what one can do to get a favourable ruling on what is acceptable and what is not. It is in the interests of the tax advisers to think about these things and to put a great deal of effort into working out how to minimise tax payments. They are very innovative and there are considerable incentives for tax advisers to behave in this way.