Starbucks 'paid just £8.6m UK tax in 14 years'

Tunney said:
The HMRC are powerless to stop anything but the most obvious cases of tax evasion at the moment. This government is making 10,000 of their already overworked staff redundant by the next election. There simply isn't enough staff to sift through the more complex cases. Reducing staff seems like madness at a time when this country desperately needs more tax revenue to plug the deficit.
Click to expand...

I've stated this before on forums but no one seems to get it.

Many on here state we have too many civil servants but they haven't yet said who they want to replace them and chase people who evade tax and cheat benefits. It's open season for fraudsters at the moment with the amounts of cuts to civil services.
 
My brother is self employed, when his company earnings rose to the higher tax bracket his account suggested he became a plc adn give 10% of the company to his wife. He now pays 28% on his income and not 40%.

This is all within the rules the reality is though the majority of us cannot do this and the economy could not susutain it either. These sort of things need looking at.

Businesses say if we had a fair and more straight forward tax policy many companies would not operate or be based in this company. Now while Starbucks and others pay little corporation tax they still pay VAT and NI and employ pleople who all have to pay their taxes (fairly, see :D).

Things are never as simple as it seems but it certainly looks like some simplification needs to be done to ensure everyone, companies and employees alike pay what is fair, good luck getting those using the loops to agree with you. You just need to look at what happened when Tax was increased to 50%, tax reciepts were less as people moved away and changed their tax set up as they weren't prepared to pay this much and business could end up doing the same meaning we could be even worse off.
 
jas72 said:
I've stated this before on forums but no one seems to get it.

Many on here state we have too many civil servants but they haven't yet said who they want to replace them and chase people who evade tax and cheat benefits. It's open season for fraudsters at the moment with the amounts of cuts to civil services.
Click to expand...

Of course, all those people with no knowledge of civil servants or what they do are quick to jump on the media band wagon of cut their wages and sack a few with very little idea of what they do or how necessary they are.

It still amazes me that people want a fully funded NHS, police, fire, ambulance, border control, army, navy, air force, teachers and so on and so, but no one wants to pay too much tax etc. A lot of these services are critical without actually generating any income from the service they provide but cost an awful lot of money.

I mean why would you cut back on one of the few services in government that actually brings in money, the HMRC should have more employees tasked with generating more tax from businesses and avoiders rather than cutting back and the UK getting even less in taxes when we are desperate for more.
 
What we should be looking at are the leaches that only take and dont put anything in at all. All those on multiple benefits, paying no tax, getting a free house and extra money for having more and more kids, smoking, drinking and increasing strain on teachers, police and NHS. Without them there would be a lot more in the pot as they add nothing and take a lot

The average person who is a law abiding citizen paying tax will not strain the NHS, police, schools etc

Instead we try taxing the rich for succeeding in life. No wonder they use loop holes for paying less tax. I would do the same or just go to another country instead
 
simulatorman said:
They’re doing nothing illegal and if I had the chance I’d be doing the same. Don’t like it then get the tax laws changed or drink your coffee somewhere else.
Click to expand...

ummm, so people being on the dole long term, we shouldn't moan about them then?, I mean they aren't doing nothing illegal are they?

This is what I don't get about the right wing brigade on here, they will moan until the cows come home about someone 'legally' claiming a few grand in benefits, calling them "scum", but companies getting out of paying millions, sometimes even billions in tax using unscrupulous methods, no, that's ok, they well defend them to the hilt, even though their money would greatly benefit our country, much more so than having a few extra doleys being forced to work in poundland claiming texcredits.
 
Last edited:
lowrider007 said:
ummm, so people being on the dole long term, we shouldn't moan about them then?, I mean they aren't doing nothing illegal are they?

This is what I don't get about the right wing brigade on here, they will moan until the cows come home about someone 'legally' claiming a few grand in benefits, calling them "scum", but companies getting out of paying millions, sometimes even billions in tax using unscrupulous methods, no, that's ok, they well defend them to the hilt, even though their money would greatly benefit our country, much more so than having a few extra doleys from working in poundland claiming texcredits.
Click to expand...

Dont try to think about it.... It will blow your mind... Do what i do, smile and nod. Try not to rationalize some of these peoples opinions :p I just assume most are fibbing to fit in or be controversial, but in reality are indeed sensible, nice balanced people.
 
I have lost count the amount of times I have been in various coffee shops and I can honestly say I have never ever seen a non immigrant job tourist working in one and have also noticed that these places don't seem to employ non white people ( they seem to favour polish/white eastern europeans)we need to stop this stupid cycle of employers being allowed to offer part time temporary contracts and minimum wage and scum buy to let landlords keeping rent high through housing benefit before worrying about tax loopholes.Why are a starbucks allowed to open a branch but then only offer part time temporary min wage contracts ? surely the council should turn round and say you have to offer full time real jobs ?

They will turn round and say british workers don't want the jobs or aren't as good.

well duuuuh yea that's because british workers want proper full time employment and min wage doesn't barely cover living costs meanwhile immigrant workers are doing all these jobs but staying/sharing in very cheap accommodation and sending all the money home where it's worth a lot more than it is here it's crazy but our min wage is a lot of money in certain places.

How long until skilled jobs are minimum wage ?
 
Last edited:
jas72 said:
100% correct if there's a loophole in the law then the law needs to fix it until such times there is nothing wrong and no story here except that which is dreamt up by our lazy press.
Click to expand...

The Tories have no interest in fair taxation, don't you know ;)

Austerity means you and I pay more for less; the big corporations know who to bribe to carry on regardless.

So if you're Starbucks or Vodafone, austerity is not something you need to worry about.

Big society at work ;)
 
FoxEye said:
The Tories have no interest in fair taxation, don't you know ;)

Austerity means you and I pay more for less; the big corporations know who to bribe to carry on regardless.

So if you're Starbucks or Vodafone, austerity is not something you need to worry about.

Big society at work ;)
Click to expand...

They still pay substantially more tax than most people will ever make in a life time.
 
Reemul said:
Of course, all those people with no knowledge of civil servants or what they do are quick to jump on the media band wagon of cut their wages and sack a few with very little idea of what they do or how necessary they are.

It still amazes me that people want a fully funded NHS, police, fire, ambulance, border control, army, navy, air force, teachers and so on and so, but no one wants to pay too much tax etc. A lot of these services are critical without actually generating any income from the service they provide but cost an awful lot of money.

I mean why would you cut back on one of the few services in government that actually brings in money, the HMRC should have more employees tasked with generating more tax from businesses and avoiders rather than cutting back and the UK getting even less in taxes when we are desperate for more.
Click to expand...

Under labour there was an increase in the civil service of around 800k. Many of them were not needed (not all obviously) but were created to reduce unemployment in areas of high unemployment and buying votes. Getting rid of those jobs to bring the structural deficit is a good thing to do.

The government should be creating an environment which promotes the creation of businesses and jobs not to try and employ everyone.

How does HMRC generate more tax from businesses? Those that are avoiding tax are doing do legally, so unless there is a change in the law there is no more money to get from them. Do you actually understand the difference between avoidance and evasion?
 
lowrider007 said:
ummm, so people being on the dole long term, we shouldn't moan about them then?, I mean they aren't doing nothing illegal are they?

This is what I don't get about the right wing brigade on here, they will moan until the cows come home about someone 'legally' claiming a few grand in benefits, calling them "scum", but companies getting out of paying millions, sometimes even billions in tax using unscrupulous methods, no, that's ok, they well defend them to the hilt, even though their money would greatly benefit our country, much more so than having a few extra doleys being forced to work in poundland claiming texcredits.
Click to expand...

Perhaps it may be because on the one hand, one contributes to the system even if it isn't as much as they could and the other doesn't contribute at all and takes from the system.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom