HMRC taskforce checking property rentals E.Anglia,London,Yorks & NE

grey_gym_sock

propertyman wrote: »

To say that the tax revenue vs jobs is nonsense, is itself, a nonsense.

i may have put it over-enthusiastically.

what i find ridiculous is the suggestion (you may not be saying this, but it is a common idea) that we should give up trying to tax international companies at a fair rate.

of course there are trade-offs; higher taxes can drive some businesses away. but with many it will make no difference. amazon obviously won't give up on the UK if we tax them properly; if we taxed them at 26%, why would they throw away the other 74%? many businesses have to be in the UK because they are selling something to ppl in the UK, and often they can't do that without operating here (or they can, but only with lower service standards). other businesses employ ppl in the UK because they can find skilled ppl here, and we have decent(-ish) infrastructure, a stable legal system, etc. nobody comes here because we're the cheapest.

also, many businesses are based wholly or mainly in the UK, and have no ability to relocate. yes, the owners/management could shut the business down, emigrate, and start a new business from scratch. a few will. but not many, if the worst thing they have to complain about is (say) being made to pay a similar tax rate to most ppl in employment.

also consider this: if a business wouldn't be sustainable if it paid a fair rate of tax, then it's no great loss for it to close. taxes are (or should be) a way of paying for some essential things without which any country would be a horrible place to live in. anybody who isn't paying their fair share is a parasite.

It is daft to take business or tax revenue as for granted, it is a complex relationship.

i agree with that. it's the opposite extreme position that i was calling nonsense.

shirleyheights

when will they scrutinise MPs, Ex MPs and Ex PMs?

Zorz_2

News at 11: Government agency, announces that it will start doing its job.