tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post5419912101432986358..comments2024-03-28T09:19:27.451+00:00Comments on RevK<sup>®</sup>'s ramblings: Doing the right thingRevKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-42404249512127297242012-12-12T14:11:30.567+00:002012-12-12T14:11:30.567+00:00Not a good analogy - both are stealing, window ope...Not a good analogy - both are stealing, window open or not, and so illegal.<br />Tax law that allows international companies to decide in what country to declare profits is legal.<br />If we need to change the law, then fine, but the issue, if there is one, is with the law, not the actions of the company which is doing what is expected of companies and done by many many companies.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-28503372949691230482012-12-12T14:00:02.270+00:002012-12-12T14:00:02.270+00:00There's a difference between leaving a window ...There's a difference between leaving a window unlocked, and having someone come through it and take your stuff.<br /><br />Should the Government bring in long overdue legislative change (lock the window) sure.<br /><br />But ultimately, it was still wrong for soemone to come through it and take our stuff (tax revenues).Chad Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06466797076721870606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-48267529999318356952012-12-10T10:16:01.111+00:002012-12-10T10:16:01.111+00:00Most of the stuff Starbucks have done is okay and ...Most of the stuff Starbucks have done is okay and just what other multinationals do on a regular basis. The only thing that really winds me up is their buying coffee beans for delivery into the UK via their Swiss company then invoicing the UK operation at a markup and then paying (lower) Swiss corporation tax on those profits (having various expenses deducted first). <br /><br />If you really analyse it then there are several ways you could make multinationals "pay their fair share" or level the playing field:<br /><br />- global taxation and redistribution scheme on their global profits but the country that currently benefits would object<br />- forget about corporation tax as it stands and replace it with a General Sales Tax i.e. you sell £1 million worth of stuff you pay £50,000 in tax<br />- move away from the idea of direct taxation on companies for their profits but instead increase capital gains tax (or merge it with a more generalised 'all income' tax)<br />- Forget about all other taxes and move to a Georgism based system with LVT and other resource based taxes<br /><br />No matter what happens the nett effect would be an increase in prices for the end consumer if the the corporations charges increase but there are potential ways for the redistribution of tax into ways that are "farer" <br /> boggitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14019016939005063064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-71032859033463423212012-12-10T09:42:06.639+00:002012-12-10T09:42:06.639+00:00It's not that they were using a loophole in th...It's not that they were using a loophole in the law, or exploiting a grey area in the tax code - they were using their non-UK subsidiaries to generate invoices from outside the UK, which conveniently added up to the same amount as their UK profits - such as bills for royalties for the Starbucks logo, or purchases of coffee beans at greatly inflated prices. In doing so, they were able to show their UK operations as making massive losses (and being able to avoid paying corporation tax) while at the same time actually being hugely profitable.<br /><br />They absolutely instituted a program in order to avoid paying their UK tax obligation, but obviously it's not possible to make the way they went about it illegal - it would mean shutting down any business that deals with companies outside of the UK.<br /><br />Lowering the tax wouldn't be enough, as as long as there exists a rule that lets large companies pay no tax - they'll do everything they can to abuse it.<br /><br />The only real way this could be fixed would be to eliminate the law that allows failing companies to avoid corporation tax; and that's going to hurt a lot of people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-49153719081817987712012-12-10T09:23:21.964+00:002012-12-10T09:23:21.964+00:00100% bang on. There working within the tax legisla...100% bang on. There working within the tax legislation if the legislation is wrong it is not their fault !! Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16505044467796417053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-5305085897848922312012-12-10T09:20:28.934+00:002012-12-10T09:20:28.934+00:00Well said !! Well said !! Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16505044467796417053noreply@blogger.com