Dick Dasterdly

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/firms-accu...-tax-avoidance

Time these big boys were put in their place and made to cough up.

Hardly fair on the smaller companies who are struggling to make ends meet, yet get jumped on straightaway if they can't pay on time.

Pocaloca

Let's hope all the noise translates into action, but I doubt these companies will make more than a token gesture.

olivefarmer

There is a certain irony that the Conservatives are chasing big business for tax.

Always time for a first.

Osborne is a desperate man that now needs a lot of money to balance the books as his deficit reduction plan just isn't working.

The Beast

George ( I don't know what I'm doing ) Osbourne has announced today that he will provide an additional £77 million for two years to HMRC to fight tax avoidance....Would it not be more prudent to change the tax loopholes at source?

Full story here.....

http://www.accountancylive.com/crone...nnelId=-674822

bobd22

Ed Balls plans would then? mmmmmmm oh yeh he wont say what they are will he.

Domino

why can't it be funded out of the money they bring in
bet the first thing they roll out will be increased fines for the man in the street, with discounts for Megacorp's

after all, lots of people (higher up) in HMRC get bonuses, presumably for coming in on time and switching the light off when no one is in the office

bobd22

Lets face it the only reason all this is going on is because these big companies have been found out and it is embarrassing for the Government. They are due to the fact that Osbornes plans are off track going to hit the average working man again and just want it to look like they are hitting the wealthy as well. He does have a hard job was hard to start with got even harder as time as passed since 2010 but Mr Osborne doesn't instill confidence in me but I would rather have him than Balls and co. Time will tell whether he is right or wrong but unfortunately it us paying the price now and I dread to think what price if he is totally wrong! especially for youngsters!

Pocaloca

Does anyone think that the publicity generated by the Occupy movement, numerous petitions and the customer boycotts of Starbucks etc, have had anything to do with this apparent change of direction by the govt?

Maybe we have more power as consumers than as voters these days?

jackytoo

So has anyone voted with their feet? Have they stopped buying Starbucks coffee or ordering from Amazon

amideislas

OK I'll be the bad girl here.

Let's say you go to file (and pay) your taxes, and your accountant tells you you can legally and completely above board save 90% on your taxes, just by "reorganising" they way you declare it. Totally legal, nothing even "shady" about it (at least it wasn't until the press picked it up).

What would you do?

Dick Dasterdly

Obviously, but the thing is how to fix it ?

Bring in draconian measures and it could defeat the object of the exercise and encourage big companies to concentrate their future expansion elsewhere.

The ideal solution would be a worldwide agreement regarding tax avoidance measures, but again obviously that will never happen as many smaller countries who benefit bigtime from multinational activities would have far too much to lose.

At the end of the day it will be some sort of compromise with the multinationals not enjoying the negative publicity and so agreeng to pay a bit more,...for a while at least,.....until it all goes quiet again and they see more opportunities to exploit whatever loopholes still exist.

Be sure they'll always find a way, much like the banks who as fast as they have one dodgy illegal charge brought into the public eye, already have the next one lined up.

rugbymatt

Interesting commentary on the radio today, Costa voluntarily pay 30% tax. If they can do it, why can't the others?

Pocaloca

It's legal but that doesn't make it ethical. Only the biggest companies can get away with it. Consumers have to shame them into action by boycotting their products - like Starbucks.

rugbymatt

Already done...

Pocaloca

So it's not just the UK. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, eBay and Amazon all see billions in revenue in Spain but these companies have paid just €25 million in taxes over the past three years.

Also interesting that there is an international initiative to address the problem:

"Two weeks ago there was a meeting of the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs in Paris on the erosion of corporate tax bases as a result of companies transferring their profits to countries with more favorable tax regimes. The idea of the world's main multilateral agencies is that companies should pay taxes where their revenues are generated."

I wonder if this has anything to do with the UK govt's sudden apparent U-turn?

Technology giants, taxpaying dwarfs