Except in general large corporations don't owe anything.
Online sales tax considered in bid to save the high street
- Thread starter chaparral
- Start date
Except in general large corporations don't owe anything.
You also have to remember that when you buy from the likes of Amazon, Steam, EA etc. You are not dealing with a British based company, you are paying a company most likely incorporated in Luxembourg so they are only required to pay corporation tax there.
Amazon U.K. is just a logistics and warehousing company and make very little profit in the grand scheme of things. They store and move goods, that’s it. They don’t own any goods nor are you buying from them.
The crux of the matter is, if you want to see your taxes paid in Britain, buy from a British company. It basically means avoiding most ‘tech’ and media (Netflix etc) companies as they are typically based in Luxembourg or Ireland. It’s not a U.K. problem, it’s really a Europe wide problem that’s difficult to solve.
Amazon U.K. is just a logistics and warehousing company and make very little profit in the grand scheme of things. They store and move goods, that’s it. They don’t own any goods nor are you buying from them.
The crux of the matter is, if you want to see your taxes paid in Britain, buy from a British company. It basically means avoiding most ‘tech’ and media (Netflix etc) companies as they are typically based in Luxembourg or Ireland. It’s not a U.K. problem, it’s really a Europe wide problem that’s difficult to solve.
Associate
- Joined
- 26 Jul 2020
- Posts
- 796
The High Street is basically a rip off - why should the shopper have to pay extra just to subsidise their rents?
Online sales tax just to fund government wastage - no thanks!
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2013
- Posts
- 12,509
Doesn't have to be.
Chances are that is what will happen, unless the law specifically prohibits it (which it can if it so chooses), because the retailer is technically responsible for the tax not the consumer. The tax costs are only factored into the retail price because the retailer can and because the customer will pay it.
If done right, sales tax can be used to control where people shop, as the general evidence suggests people do stop buying if the price gets too high, especially online.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_tax
The only real question is whether our lot will do it right, or if they'll make a complete Covid out of the situation.
Depends what loopholes there are to avoid this tax.
If the Gubmint can't get the tax out of the companies, they'll tax that company's customers out of their shop and into someone else's, so to speak. No customers, no profits.
I'm not sure what relevance it has whether it's technically a tax on the consumer or the corporation. People vote in an election not companies.
In reality all corporation taxes are paid for by the consumer anyway, the shareholders don't accept reduced profits they just incorporate them into product prices. The same way "employers" NI contributions just reduce the salaries offered to compensate for the increased cost of hiring someone.
It's all so ridiculous really, just have one tax, a flat rate income tax and get rid of everything else that causes so much bureaucracy.
Last edited:
I don't think I like the idea of the government helping me decide where I shop. High street is dying for a good reason! At a push I'll go to a shopping centre but even then...
Good shops with good customer service and compelling reasons to actually rock up to a shop in person will survive. That's the way it should be
Good shops with good customer service and compelling reasons to actually rock up to a shop in person will survive. That's the way it should be
Associate
- Joined
- 26 Jul 2020
- Posts
- 796
and like, who buys real books anymore, at places such as Waterstones? I mean that place charges around £15 for a book already well out of date, and only left wing garbage anyway
For me this can be a hard one
Like yesterday i went around to all my local motorbike dealers looking for a new bike jacket & gloves & boots plus i bought a new crash helmet & visor from one a few weeks ago
If no one buys there motorbike accessories from these motorbike dealers then they will not make enough on motorbike sales & services alone to keep going and we already lost are BMW motorbike & Ducati bike dealerships over here in guernsey
Plus i still like to do a lot of local shopping at B&Q, Sports Direct, Boots, Garden Centres, Other Hardware stores, TV Shops, Shops that sell Large Kitchen appliances like fridges, Washing machines, dryers etc i wouldn't like to see these close
Like yesterday i went around to all my local motorbike dealers looking for a new bike jacket & gloves & boots plus i bought a new crash helmet & visor from one a few weeks ago
If no one buys there motorbike accessories from these motorbike dealers then they will not make enough on motorbike sales & services alone to keep going and we already lost are BMW motorbike & Ducati bike dealerships over here in guernsey
Plus i still like to do a lot of local shopping at B&Q, Sports Direct, Boots, Garden Centres, Other Hardware stores, TV Shops, Shops that sell Large Kitchen appliances like fridges, Washing machines, dryers etc i wouldn't like to see these close
Last edited:
For me this can be a hard one
Like yesterday i went around to all my local motorbike dealers looking for a new bike jacket & gloves & boots plus i bought a new crash helmet & visor from one a few weeks ago
If no one buys there motorbike accessories from these motorbike dealers then they will not make enough on motorbike sales & services alone to keep going and we already lost are BMW motorbike & Ducati bike dealerships over here in guernsey
Plus i still like to do a lot of shopping at B&Q, Sports Direct, Boots, Garden Centres, Other Hardware stores, TV Shops, Shops that sell Large Kitchen appliances like fridges, Washing machines, dryers etc i wouldn't like to see these close
Retail parks aren't struggling like high streets though.
Don't have any of them in guernsey
Closest we have is an overpriced supermarket with a B&Q a few 100 feet away
Caporegime
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 37,804
- Location
- block 16, cell 12
Problem with that is the High Street is a major uk employer.
We don't have a production/industrial based economy remember?
The whole international business setup is real conundrum now.
Before most of a countries spending power remained in the country in a kind of cyclic system. Worker gets paid and taxed, what money they have left is then taxed when they purchase goods or services and the company they bought from is also taxed, profits go back into the business to fund growth and pay workers etc.
Now far too much money just leaves the country and ends up where it cant be taxed but unless you get some international agreements on new tax arrangements its hard to tackle. Especially when you have a president like trump that sees any additional taxing of American companies as a personal attack.
Yeah this seems like a bit piece of the puzzle. Money being funneled out of our country, out of Europe.
Think of the companies doing well during corona. Most are off shore
One of the biggest things they need to change is parking prices.
They are obscene in some areas. Brighton, for example, costs like £25 to park near the shops all day. I likely would go there far more frequently if it wasn't such a ridiculous place to park.
A 2% tax on online sales isnt going to make up for the time, faff and parking cost of going into a big shopping centre these days.
They are obscene in some areas. Brighton, for example, costs like £25 to park near the shops all day. I likely would go there far more frequently if it wasn't such a ridiculous place to park.
A 2% tax on online sales isnt going to make up for the time, faff and parking cost of going into a big shopping centre these days.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2013
- Posts
- 12,509
And those people voted for the "authoritarian government" that is now looking to tax companies.
If that were true, why would any company bother avoiding and evading tax if we pay it for them? Why would they employ creative accountants to offset tax against various expenses if we pay all that tax for them? Why do they have accounts in tax havens and register in countries that exempt them from paying tax when we already paid all their tax for them? Why does our regulator restrict those tax-paying prices that you claim pay for everything?
How is it that companies get closed down for not paying tax, when it's all covered by the consumer?
Where is it in the manifesto? Just because people voted in a government doesn't mean that they can then do anything they like without criticism.
Because by avoiding tax they can offer reduced prices which increases sales and revenue and profit.
I wrote to the Chancellor suggesting he make importers' agents (e.g. Amazon and ebay) responsible for ensuring import duty and VAT is paid.