My friend was/is engaged in tax evasion that HMRC have now declared as tax evasion and they'll be taking all that money for the last 5 years, thank you very much.
He/she said the same thing as you are saying now.
The difference between you and the billionaires is that they can afford to make an offer, a la google to the UK.
You are just going to be completely screwed when they come knocking on the door.
The cost isn't in setting them up. The cost is in defending the structures in court when some tax authority feels you're "cheating" the game. Tax authorities lose plenty of cases however, so as long as you didn't do anything illegal and you can afford great lawyers to see a case through, you're good.
That's what shits me. If it's smart, viable strategy, why not make it available by default for every citizen with a basic tax framework instead of something only available to the wealth to push further ahead?
It's an arms race. As corporate income tax receipts dry up countries change their policies. Very wealthy, naturally international companies not only have more resources to compete, they also have the ability to play hard ball and leave the country entirely (see tax inversions of pharmaceutical companies from America to Europe) bringing not just the lost corporate tax, but the income tax on salaries as well.
