The Evasion of Taxes The publicity given by this and
other journals to the extent to which tax-evasion is at present being carried on without actual breaches of the law seems likely to have the desired effect, and there is little doubt that now the Govern- ment will make the case its own, and the great lawyer who is Chancellor of the Exchequer turn his legal talents to solving the technical difficulties of the prob- lem. What is desired is a general clause voiding all sham transactions whose purpose is to make evasion of super-tax and income-tax possible. The simple fact that evasion by the rich is computed, at the lowest estimate, to add 6d. to the income-tax which others,—foolishly, it seems, in the view of some Judges, but honestly—attempt to pay is sufficient to rouse the taxpayer's indignation and his deter- mination that the practice of evasion must be stopped ; especially since the growth of armaments threatens to increase the burden he has to bear. The heavy responsibilities of wealth are often emphasised by the rich; the duty of paying one's taxes is out of them. And if the law leaves any room for doubt as to what taxes must be paid the law will have to be altered.
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