Happ Hazzard Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 The whole idea of tax is outdated IMO. It was only supposed to be a temporary measure to pay for a war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Tamudo Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 The whole idea of tax is outdated IMO. It was only supposed to be a temporary measure to pay for a war. Have you been reading that book by Ayn Rand again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francypants Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 These companies have committed no crime........they have simply used legal loopholes to avoid paying tax in this country........and I would do the same in their position It lies with the government to close these loopholes and clamp down heavily on companies involved in tax evasion (which is not the same as tax avoidance). How many of us, given the chance to legally not pay tax would do so.............think about it! I honestly cannot see why everybody is blaming these companies. The government is to blame for allowing the loopholes to exist. The companies' accountants have been doing their jobs correctly. If I owned a company I'd expect my accountant to do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 The whole idea of tax is outdated IMO. It was only supposed to be a temporary measure to pay for a war. That's income tax. The romans taxed people because they were jewish, and that was 2000 years ago. A thousand years ago, William the ******* had the Domesday book written so he could tax everyone according to their means. Direct taxes for the operation of government was a reality in the UK five hundred years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andygardener Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Starbucks are taking most of the heat regarding paying corporation tax or lack of it and some might say rightly so. When are Amazon and Google going to take some flack, feels like Starbucks are an easier target to have a pop at compared to Amazon and Google. Amazon has taken a lot of flack, whether people vote with their wallets remains to be seen when the Christmas trading figures come out. They do have some competition like play.com etc so there may be a dint in their figures. Google don't have any (meaningful) competition, could cease the majority of physical UK ops tomorrow with no effect on what they do here so do have us over a barrel to a degree. I and anyone who runs a business, big or small, can't boycott Google, it would be economic suicide, so the best result we'll get with them is if they choose to volunteer to pay a bit of tax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melthebell Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 amazon will just get more expensive if they have to pay more tax. I'd rather have extra money in my pocket than in government coffers. but surely if the government are missing out, WE pay more tax etc or cut from other ways so lose out in the long run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiteowl Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 What happened to Vodafone and Top Shop ? Did they actually pay their taxes or are they heaving a collective sigh of relief that the focus has shifted onto others ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I honestly cannot see why everybody is blaming these companies. The government is to blame for allowing the loopholes to exist. The companies' accountants have been doing their jobs correctly. If I owned a company I'd expect my accountant to do the same. They're not "blaming" the companies for anything. They are pressuring them into paying more tax than they are legally due, and perhaps into paying the tax that is felt to be morally due. If Starbucks really were making a loss in the UK, as their UK accounts indicate, then this campaign wouldn't exist. The reality is, governments legislate constantly on tax in an effort to make the law apply as it is intended. Starbucks and other organisations then hire very expensive tax lawyers to work out how to escape from the intended tax without technically breaking the law. What we need is something like the tax evasion scheme analogs law - modelled on drugs analogs laws. Simply put,tax avoidance schemes that closely resemble illegal tax evasion schemes should also be illegal without further legislation being required. As the tax lawyer at the select committee pointed out, virtually all of his previous avoidance schemes would now be illegal to operate as they would constitute tax evasion. ---------- Post added 10-12-2012 at 20:09 ---------- What happened to Vodafone and Top Shop ? Did they actually pay their taxes or are they heaving a collective sigh of relief that the focus has shifted onto others ? Vodafone made a cosy settlement with HMRC to avoid any further outbreaks of unpleasantness. Top Shop, I'm not so sure. Let's not forget that HMRC had its own offshore tax haven contract to manage its property portfolio, The people are the offended party here, not HMRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shilling Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Awwww poor little Starbucks.. What protesters are doing by ganging up on Starbucks is not illegal. It may be immoral but its not illegal so whats the problem It might be a problem if you work there and get laid off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 It might be a problem if you work there and get laid off. On the other hand, getting laid off from Starbucks may be the best thing that ever happens to them, and they go on to a glittering career in neuroscience or marine biology, or meet their future soul mate in Totnes, or win the US presidency or something. Who can tell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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