In fact, I am inspired by that quote that is inscribed over the front door of the US tax office, the Internal Revenue Service in Washington DC. It's the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr who served as a US Supreme Court justice from 1902 to 1932: "Taxes are what we pay for a civilised society.” "Taxes are what we pay for a civilised society.” Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr He was right then and he’s still right. Countries that don’t have a properly observed tax regime usually fall into chaos and corruption. We have been to many of them on holidays. About 20 years ago, when I was running my media company, some representatives of the Government of Singapore visited me in Melbourne.

They were looking to encourage Australian companies to move their head office to their island state. Our corporate tax rate was over 30 per cent at the time, while Singapore’s rate was 15 per cent. But for handpicked companies like mine there was a special price of just 7 per cent. But I believe in the Australian system that creates the sort of society that enabled me to build a successful business. Avoiding tax, even if it seems legal, is a very shortsighted ambition. Appalling tax practices When the matter of tax comes up, Charlie always tells the story of an international company that became involved with a local company. The Australian company had a profit of around $50 million and paid tax of about $15 million without question. Within two years of the involvement of the international company, the tax had been reduced to $5 million and the year after that to zero. And the company was just as profitable. Loading

I could be boring and tell you all the ways that this happens, but I’m sure that our tax officials and their masters know. We have just got to get smarter and be able to collect a fair share from the likes of Google, which pays almost nothing on a turnover of $2.5 billion. Charlie once attended the board meeting of a European company as it received a report from its director in charge of tax matters. He tabled a note from the company’s auditor which described their tax practices as “sharpish” and on a scale of 10 rated their method a seven, and rising. It’s appalling that international tax can be dealt with in these ways. We’re missing out on an enormous amount of tax as we try hard to balance our budget. Personally, I don’t think that we ever will balance it while these practices continue. Our budget officials keep forecasting better and better returns in the future. But it’s a future that will never arrive unless there is major change. Bowen's sleeper JK Rowling: "I think my country helped me." Credit:AP