Stephen Lansdown sells nearly £130m of stock

[BigAl&Toby]

12 hours ago, Fiale said:

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty sure he would have paid tax on the sale of the shares. As for contribution, the recent stadium improvements alone were around 40 million, that money went to companies / supply chains for parts and materials filtering from electricians working on the stadium to port handlers / miners digging up/transporting goods. People who need to earn money to feed themselves  kids and families - it's not like the money he spends is just being set on fire. The employees of HL (over a thousand) , Bristol Rugby, Bristol City all earning a wage, and all their money also trickling down to shops / businesses. As for the Tax and NI paid by those companies and employees, probably exceeds in one year the combined contribution of all the rest of Bristol City supporters in a life time. SL's probably contributed more to the welfare of everyone on this forum than the posters themselves, just due to the sums involved.

 

 

All very true as is the view that as an employer he’s creating opportunities for others - to earn a living and pay their own tax.

Whilst they’re doing that they’re also adding to his wealth. Nothing wrong in any of that.

What I object to are the ******* who avoid and evade their tax obligations. And yep - some/much of tax revenue might well be wasted but some of it isn’t.

I’m all for free market - apart from cocks like Rees Mogg - and I’m far from wanting a socialist utopia. 

Having though spent time in a magistrates court and having observed the breadth of society in there, or those on trollies literally dying for a bed on a ward, or an army veteran with no legs but pushing himself around on a skateboard I find it repugnant that any ****** can not pay the tax that morally - if not legally - they should.

No amount of investment in BCFC, Bristol Sport, or any other employment or personal investment vehicle will convince me otherwise.

But hey I’m a simple chap, working and paying 40% tax in a small town In Somerset. And know what? I’d rather be doing that than only being able to return to my city of birth for a limited number of days every year.

[pongo88]

1 hour ago, Miah Dennehy said:

This can only mean one thing. You bastards are going to put in a bid for Tom Lockyer!

Miah old bean, you obviously have no idea of the value of Hargreaves Lansdown shares. The latest price is £19.98 per share. SL could have sold one share and bought the entire Rovers team, with a few plastic chairs thrown in. 

[Tinmans Love Child]

8 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

While I can sympathise with your feelings regarding tax evasion, it's worth pointing out that it was the rest of the board that insisted on it being the Lansdown Stand, not him. I don't object to it, any more than I do the Dolman Stand.

Sadly, I think you'll have a tough job finding a club owner in the top two divisions who doesn't use tax havens and loopholes to shelter their money from the exposure us poorer mugs cannot avoid. I put the blame not on the Lansdowns of this world, but on the successive governments who have allowed those loopholes and havens to exist - often while telling us "there is no money in the kitty".

Don’t blame the player blame the game

[pongo88]

There have been some comments about SL reducing his tax liabilities by living in Guernsey that imply it is somehow morally wrong. What he’s doing is not tax evasion. Tax evasion is the illegal evasion of taxes by individuals, corporations, and trusts. What he’s doing is tax avoidance, which is is the legal use of tax laws to reduce  his tax. Everyone, who pays tax, uses tax avoidance. There is the personal allowance of £11,850 on which you don’t pay tax. There is also a whole host of things that qualify for tax relief such as married couples’ allowance, expenses for running a business etc. Everyone, except complete idiots, claim every form of tax relief that they can to reduce their tax. SL is doing the same thing, just on a much bigger scale. 

The amout SL saves in tax pales into insignificance compared to the amout of tax lost by the government by self employed people who don’t complete an accurate tax return. I’m sure most people on the forum (me included) have paid cash for a job in the expectation that this will be cheaper. Each year billions of pounds tax are lost to the country by the cash in hand economy

[Port Said Red]

On 22/06/2018 at 08:32, Redsox said:

It's obscene that one person has that amount of wealth and avoids tax. However good it's been to city it's become a bit sad to see someone frittering money on an attempt to play premier league football when yards from AG people visit food banks. Of course it's good for us but like people say " you can't buy class"

Let's ignore the tax he has paid up until he moved, the tax he pays in this country from his businesses here and the employment is generating shall we? He has earned his money and deserves to spend it as he sees fit.

[MarcusX]

19 hours ago, BigAlToby&Liam said:

Spot on @Redsox. Sadly that particular point is far too subtle for the majority on here.

As long as Steve is investing in making us proud very few give a shit about those that go hungry or without a safe roof over their heads.

But when the NHS/Justice/Education system/s are well and truly ****** no one will point a finger at those who avoid and evade paying their fair share of tax. 

Oh now. We’ll all clap and be grateful.

I’m sure if you had earned his wealth you’d do what you could to keep as much of it as possible. I bet he still pays more in tax than some of us will even see in a lifetime.

your views should be aimed at the system, if it wasn’t possible to avoid then people wouldn’t do it.

[Leveller]

6 hours ago, SX227 said:

Again....

 

The guy owns Bristol City, Bears, Flyers etc

The stadium, AV land, multiple buildings around the AG area.

 

There is no 'benevolence' here - its business.

 

At some point in time - presumably when AV can be rezoned, the whole shebang will be sold off to a super-rich Chinese/USA/Russian etc etc group as an 'investment opportunity'

Football club in,or nearly in,the Prem

High performing Rugby club

State-of-the art stadium with room to expand

Planning permission for new basketball / concert arena (if not already built)

1500+ housing units on AV land

Light industrial/retail units on AV land

Plus many many other benefits.

Bundle that lot up and you get far more than the 100,000,000 quid already spent - 5x more, 10x more

Sure, he loves Bristol Sport, but don't pretend that a whacking great profit was not the end game.

And don't think that JL will see BCFC into a bright future - he's just there to assist in the inevitable takeover of Lansdowns folly.

Make your mind up - is it a hugely profitable venture or a folly? It can’t be both.

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, pongo88 said:

There have been some comments about SL reducing his tax liabilities by living in Guernsey that imply it is somehow morally wrong. What he’s doing is not tax evasion. Tax evasion is the illegal evasion of taxes by individuals, corporations, and trusts. What he’s doing is tax avoidance, which is is the legal use of tax laws to reduce  his tax. Everyone, who pays tax, uses tax avoidance. There is the personal allowance of £11,850 on which you don’t pay tax. There is also a whole host of things that qualify for tax relief such as married couples’ allowance, expenses for running a business etc. Everyone, except complete idiots, claim every form of tax relief that they can to reduce their tax. SL is doing the same thing, just on a much bigger scale. 

The amout SL saves in tax pales into insignificance compared to the amout of tax lost by the government by self employed people who don’t complete an accurate tax return. I’m sure most people on the forum (me included) have paid cash for a job in the expectation that this will be cheaper. Each year billions of pounds tax are lost to the country by the cash in hand economy

Good post!  

[BigAl&Toby]

7 hours ago, MarcusX said:

I’m sure if you had earned his wealth you’d do what you could to keep as much of it as possible. I bet he still pays more in tax than some of us will even see in a lifetime.

your views should be aimed at the system, if it wasn’t possible to avoid then people wouldn’t do it.

In a word. No I wouldn’t.

You might. Others might. I wouldn’t.

Under a progressive tax system we pay what’s due. Some might argue tax revenue is wasted. Be that on overseas aid or a top heavy NHS.

Tell that though to the poor bastard living on the bread line. Relying on food banks.

Or the mentally ill who now rely on an uncaring care in the community. 

You ok with the likes of big Corporates and the wealthy making more profit and increasing their wealth whilst that goes on? I’m not. 

Might well be avoidance and legal but that don’t make it right. Even if Lansdown’s “benevolence” is to the benefit of BCFC.

[Davefevs]

30 minutes ago, BigAlToby&Liam said:

In a word. No I wouldn’t.

You might. Others might. I wouldn’t.

Under a progressive tax system we pay what’s due. Some might argue tax revenue is wasted. Be that on overseas aid or a top heavy NHS.

Tell that though to the poor bastard living on the bread line. Relying on food banks.

Or the mentally ill who now rely on an uncaring care in the community. 

You ok with the likes of big Corporates and the wealthy making more profit and increasing their wealth whilst that goes on? I’m not. 

Might well be avoidance and legal but that don’t make it right. Even if Lansdown’s “benevolence” is to the benefit of BCFC.

This country no longer looks after its fellow man, Great Britain my arse, divided Britain definitely, Selfish Britain even more so.

Not saying I'm a Saint by any stretch, but I've rarely given to the street beggar in the past, but do so regularly these days.  The vast majority are not there because they want to, but the spin doctors would have you believe they’ll all on the fiddle.  When my wife took over a BK, Chips and a hot coffee to two homeless people last Xmas, when it was so, so cold, you realise all is not well in this country.  Those two weren’t there for the craic, they were extremely grateful, they were there through no other choice, having been shunted from Cabot’s to Debenhams - how dare they stain trendy Cabot’s.  Yet some people looked down their noses at us for helping.

I gave a few quid to a woman struggling to get home in the rain last Sunday night.  She may we’ll have fleeced me, but I felt better,  not that that is the point.

At the end of the day, individual’s like me shouldn’t have to help, the system should....the system is wrong.

[Ska Junkie]

21 hours ago, wendyredredrobin said:

The 35m CGT Steve has not had to pay HMRC, may be spent on BCFC instead. I woyld rather see it go to BCFC than HMRC personally. 

There is of course an argument that 35m lost to HMRC could have been spent on NHS, but that organisation wastes more than that every week on non essential treatments and crazy money spent on consultants overtime, agency staff, administrators, etc.

You're not wrong there wendy.

I work for a company that does 95% of it's business with the NHS and we installed some new machines in a hospital this week. We had 4 engineers working on it and the customer sent 8 (that's EIGHT) project Managers to oversee the work, I've never seen so many clipboards in one place! They had to organise the transport for some machines to be moved and managed to cock that up by booking a lorry which was too bloody small. The average salary of a project Manager in the NHS? Approximately £70K PA.

No wonder they're skint! 

Rant over. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

3 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

You're not wrong there wendy.

I work for a company that does 95% of it's business with the NHS and we installed some new machines in a hospital this week. We had 4 engineers working on it and the customer sent 8 (that's EIGHT) project Managers to oversee the work, I've never seen so many clipboards in one place! They had to organise the transport for some machines to be moved and managed to cock that up by booking a lorry which was too bloody small. The average salary of a project Manager in the NHS? Approximately £70K PA.

No wonder they're skint! 

Rant over. 

I bet they made your engineers pay for parking though. They`re always very efficient when it comes to things like that.

[Ska Junkie]

13 minutes ago, Red Right Hand said:

I bet they made your engineers pay for parking though. They`re always very efficient when it comes to things like that.

Over the bridge RRH so parking's free. As it really should be on our side.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

This country no longer looks after its fellow man, Great Britain my arse, divided Britain definitely, Selfish Britain even more so.

Not saying I'm a Saint by any stretch, but I've rarely given to the street beggar in the past, but do so regularly these days.  The vast majority are not there because they want to, but the spin doctors would have you believe they’ll all on the fiddle.  When my wife took over a BK, Chips and a hot coffee to two homeless people last Xmas, when it was so, so cold, you realise all is not well in this country.  Those two weren’t there for the craic, they were extremely grateful, they were there through no other choice, having been shunted from Cabot’s to Debenhams - how dare they stain trendy Cabot’s.  Yet some people looked down their noses at us for helping.

I gave a few quid to a woman struggling to get home in the rain last Sunday night.  She may we’ll have fleeced me, but I felt better,  not that that is the point.

At the end of the day, individual’s like me shouldn’t have to help, the system should....the system is wrong.

We all have a choice and come through the same system, I`ll leave it there but we reap what we sow.

You don't know why "they are there" by the way, some are beyond help and will continue to make the wrong choices, whatever is given to them.

 

[reddoh]

On 22/06/2018 at 10:25, Major Isewater said:

There will always be someone willing to invest in the club, perhaps someone with even more money ( if that's possible ) .

In any case the club will be here long after we have moved on to the upper tier . 

You have to be Joking, At those prices?

[MarcusX]

On 23/06/2018 at 17:39, BigAlToby&Liam said:

In a word. No I wouldn’t.

You might. Others might. I wouldn’t.

Under a progressive tax system we pay what’s due. Some might argue tax revenue is wasted. Be that on overseas aid or a top heavy NHS.

Tell that though to the poor bastard living on the bread line. Relying on food banks.

Or the mentally ill who now rely on an uncaring care in the community. 

You ok with the likes of big Corporates and the wealthy making more profit and increasing their wealth whilst that goes on? I’m not. 

Might well be avoidance and legal but that don’t make it right. Even if Lansdown’s “benevolence” is to the benefit of BCFC.

There’s a difference between being “ok” with it and understanding where the problem lies.

[JasonM88]

Expect to see a major planning application for area surrounding AG

[DOLMANDAN]

On 22/06/2018 at 00:07, zippycar said:

According to the Daily Mail

Does this mean a spending spree is imminent?

no i wouldn't have thought so