Edward Siddons

Jun 15, 2024 | theguardian.com | Edward Siddons |Jon Ungoed-Thomas

The UK’s tax authority has not fined a single “enabler” of offshore tax evasion or noncompliance in five years, despite landmark powers to impose huge fines. Tory ministers claimed new laws introduced in 2017 allowed HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to pursue accountants, lawyers and bankers who facilitate offshore tax evasion would “create a level playing field”, with potential fines of several millions of pounds.

May 29, 2024 | theguardian.com | Edward Siddons

Provincetown is a fishing village turned art colony at the tip of Cape Cod, a curling peninsula on America’s north-eastern coast. In US terms, it’s an old town, and since the first half of the 20th century, it has been a haven for artists, musicians, queer people and bohemians who descend on the town every summer. Tennessee Williams lived there, lots of the abstract expressionists holidayed there, and the Velvet Underground played there in the 1960s.

Feb 17, 2024 | ca.news.yahoo.com | Edward Siddons |Jon Ungoed-Thomas

The number of civil investigation cases opened by a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fraud unit investigating offshore, corporate and wealthy taxpayers has fallen by more than half in five years, figures reveal. The Observer reported last month that HMRC has not charged a single company under landmark legislation to crack down on tax evasion. Campaigners warned that HMRC was undermining its own deterrents by failing to use its criminal enforcement powers.

Jan 20, 2024 | theguardian.com | Edward Siddons

HMRC has not charged a single company under landmark legislation passed six years ago to crack down on corporate tax evasion. Critics say the data, released under freedom of information laws to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and TaxWatch, suggests that HMRC is undermining its own deterrents against corporate tax evasion by failing to use its criminal enforcement powers. Margaret Hodge MP called the findings appalling and said the lack of enforcement had rendered the law “a paper tiger”.

Sep 13, 2023 | theguardian.com | Edward Siddons

I moved to San Francisco in my early 20s and fell in love with it: the vibe, the ocean, the hills. It’s a big city on small terrain and feels like nowhere else. But it also gave me access to something I longed for: a diverse, vibrant and radical queer community. It was shocking how many people made up the queer scene in San Francisco in the 1990s, which is when this image was taken. It all felt so fast; there was so much going on. I would walk out of the house and immediately run into people I knew.