On Mon, 04 Jan 2016 17:23:27 +0000, Tim Streater
wrote:

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
wrote:

In article ,
MM wrote:
How on earth is Amazon ripping off Britain? They adhere to the tax
laws to the letter. If the tax laws are constructed in such a way that
legal loopholes are created,

It isnt a legal loophole,

Are they breaking any *law*?

Er, no they are NOT! Therefore all they are doing is exploiting a
legal loophole just like you do when you talk to your accountant about
saving tax. No one *donates* tax, which is what that silly woman
Margaret Hodge seems to want from big corporations.

But can you be sure they ain't breaking any law? For that you'd need
access to all their accounts world wide and an army of accountants to
check them.

HMRC can always demand to audit them.

Exactly.

It remains a fact that most would expect a company trading in the UK to
pay UK taxes,

They do pay UK taxes, so what is your problem.

Envy. Sour grapes.

rather than shift money round the world in some form of
creative accounting.

If it's legal, what is your problem.

Exactly.

Remember if such companies avoid paying UK tax, the
burden becomes that much greater for those who do pay it.

That's true for any entity which avoids tax, whether an individual or a
corporation.

I've asked before and I'll ask again, in case one of you smoke-blowers
can enlighten me: if a company submits its tax return and the Revenue
is happy, just what are you expecting to happen? That the company
decides to pay a larger amount than the tax bill says? How much bigger?
In which country? Who decides how much bigger?

That's what Margaret Hodge keeps wittering on about. About how awful
these companies are for not paying their "fair share".

Starbucks even offered to donate tax voluntarily to shut her up, even
though they weren't obliged to.

MM