Tax avoidance – morally wrong or a product of normal decision-making?

The word ‘tariff’ may be considered by President Trump as ‘the most beautiful word in the English language’ but in reality it’s just another form of taxation. Taxes duties tariffs excise charges levies – call them what you will but they are all examples of the state-sanctioned confiscation of your money. Let’s face it – if the state simply asked you to pay tax rather than demand it (on pain of penalties or imprisonment) then would you pay and if so how much?

I strongly suspect that if the state relied purely on voluntary contributions of tax it would bring in a pitifully small amount of money compared to the £1.1tr of revenues it raises now. By way of example our government has a facility to enable people to make voluntary contributions of tax...