A certain lowlife junky in Chiang Mai has been importing books from England while on the dole for years. On top of that, he and his partners used to put out big signs asking customers for donations and claiming that all of their profits went to charity. They didn't bother to mention that it was the China White Fund!

So I assume by that statement that means you have never....

a) used counterfeit software

wore counterfeit clothes

c) smoked a pack of ciggys from over the border

d) used illegal drugs of any kind

e) copied an album for a friend

f) downloaded music

g) etc etc

er ....... well , ive never fiddled the benefit / tax system.

But you do admit to having committed a crime that has cost tax payers money.

Now can you tell me what's the difference between yourself and the guy in the news report?

But you do admit to having committed a crime that has cost tax payers money.

no i dont.

So the difference is you haven't been caught? Stones and glass houses come to mind.

A tax exile is one who chooses to leave a country and instead to reside in a foreign nation or jurisdiction because personal taxes there are appreciably lower or even nil. Going into tax exile is a means of tax mitigation or avoidance.

^ Any point to put that quote in this topic?

Not discussing tax exiles are we.

^ Any point to put that quote in this topic?

Not discussing tax exiles are we.

You are, yes.

Better UK tax-payers money going to someone who has actually worked and paid tax than certain low-life Europeans coming over and leeching off the State. Good on him I say.

Agreed.. If you can beat these a'holes purporting to be servants of the state who want to screw every one who comes in making an application for a benefit "I say hats off to you"

You pays your taxes all your life and some refugee comes in, gets the red carpet while you go begging.

AND it does not only happen in the UK either.

Maybe if the government offered cash rewards .....

Nice idea. I think the East Germans/Stasi adopted a similar system. Worked well for them.

On the subject of double-standards, let's not forget the delightful Mr Conway (still-MP), who used tax payer's money to fund his ('flamboyant' and Shirley Temple-liking) son's party lifestyle and who still - amazingly - has a job. On the one hand Lady Conway Jnr was throwing parties on the theme of '<deleted> you - I'm rich' (acceptable to the establishment), paid for with £80,000 of public money; on the other, Mr Average (unacceptable to the establishment) plods away and scams a third of this and gets sent to jail. The real crime here isn't fraud. The crime is not being part of the establishment.

I couldn't agree more.

The sad fact here is that this poor sap only ended up in this position because he didn't know the system well enough. Given his age and personal circumstances there would have been no problem in spending a lot more time out of the UK whilst still getting his housing benefit and council tax paid. The statement that you can spend only 4 weeks out of the UK is completely inaccurate. His real crime was not knowing enough about the system to exploit it properly, unlike todays revelations about the prisoners who have legally been claiming maintenance and accommodation grants whilst pursuing their studies. If they started to enforce this rule in all cases the Costa del Sol would empty overnight.

The statement that you can spend only 4 weeks out of the UK is completely inaccurate

if someone ( the scrounger ) can afford air fares for himself and his wife to travel half way around the world , then others (the gainfully employed) should not have to be working in order to be paying taxes in order to fund housing benefit and council tax for him whilst he is away.

its morally wrong that those working should be funding his lifestyle. the law was absolutely correct to prosecute and punish this parasite.