Amazon £7bn sales, but no tax! Should we boycott Amazon this Christmas?

fiscalfreckles

I have thought about this - I use Amazon a lot so it would be quite a change for me & I really don't think I can find the savings I get from them elsewhere.
But as the poster above says, I do feel that the fault is with the Government for not having proper tax laws in place and that the consumer should not have to feel guilty supporting a retailer (or whatever company) because we have a ridiculous system.

As stated above, I appreciate that it is very complicated & can only assume that the government thinks making such companies pay proper tax would be more damaging to the UK economy overall, but it is not fair or right IMHO.

But I don't really blame the companies for taking advantage of a system that allows them to maximise their business, I blame the powers that be.

thor

As it is I can't see people being bothered enough for three reasons:
1. Tracking down companies who do pay a 'fair' amount of tax.
2. The inconvenience of having to possibly pay more.
3. They just don't care.

I think point 1 will be eliminated in the near future because I believe companies will begin to use the amount of tax paid on profits as a marketing tool. In fact I am sure I have read about some companies proudly claiming they pay their tax(and good luck to them) already.
I fully support the closing of these loopholes and if the likes of Starbucks threaten to leave then they can bloody well !!!!!! off. Their coffee costs too much and is no better than anyone else's - They can and will be easily replaced. It is all very well saying that you are paying taxes indirectly by creating employment but when you are making huge profits in this country then it is fair to pay back some of that as well. If you can't maintain a business on this premise then someone else will. That's capitalism for you.

[Deleted User]

jap200 wrote: »

I run a small limited company - just me - no employees, and I pay £15,000 to £20,000 corporation tax each year, which is 20% of my profits. I would rather keep the lot, but I don't because tax is a fact of life which keeps this country going.

However, Amazon made £7bn profits in the UK last year (allegedly) and managed not to pay any UK corporation at all. Is this fair? I think not!

Read the full story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/04/amazon-british-operation-corporation-tax

It has become all too easy just to click and buy from Amazon and I am guilty of it probably several times a month. But I have decided to try and have an Amazon-free Christmas this year. It won't be easy...Black Friday is coming up...but it just doesn't seem fair that they can take such a large slice of sales in the UK without putting anything back.

Anyone want to join me? We are going to have to work just that little bit harder to match or beat Amazon prices on what we want to buy.

Hubby and I have already joined the boycott. And, incidentally, they're not always cheapest. I've just bought a book I wanted at Tesco for £3.87 - it costs £5.99 on Amazon at the moment. Normally, I'd have just clicked on Amazon but like you I object to them paying ZERO corporation tax. I suspect I'm about to save myself a lot of money - too easy to click on their site.

Anyone who wants to really make the point - just order something from them; then immediately return it - and write on the returns docket (where it says reason for return) that you object to their failing to pay any UK corporation tax. It will cost them money to pay return postage, plus they have to log all reasons for things being returned, so the message will get through.

Thanks for starting this thread. Nice to know we can't all be bought.

[Deleted User]

grintricha wrote: »

yes stop buying from them, it's the only way they'll notice

Thatcher killed this country and gave you one power, that of a consumer, use it, it's not much of a power but it's all we have left.

Well said !

Treevo

Rather than attacking companies for doing what is fiscally responsible for themselves, maybe we should be attacking the Government for being fiscally negligent for this country?

freeoffers

Sorry, can't do it. They have too many good deals. I applaud the sentiment but if they're exploiting loopholes maybe we should get onto the politicians to close them rather than have a go at Amazon for taking advantage.
That's where the problem lies, the richest people and companies pay less tax because politicians (who work for us remember) allow it.

Robmoreton

Im all in for boycotting Amazon!, If the UK did this for one week only Amazon would make a token Tax payment instead of increasing the risk of losing £103M a week in Revenue

[Deleted User]

I thought I'd do a bit more reading around this and pass this on to those who are interested in supporting the boycott.

Amazon is currently being investigated by the US tax authorites and as part of that they've discovered that Amazon UK sales over the past three years were between £7.6bn and £10.3bn. This would have generated taxable profits of £266m-£360m and yielded national UK corporation tax of around £100m.

So, what sort of difference could £100m make to the UK?

One example I found is that £100m is the exact figure of the current deficit of all the NHS London Hospital trusts; as a result, job losses will follow, short cuts will be taken, waiting lists will grow and patient care will suffer.

And we're only talking about ONE company. Just think of all the money that could be clawed back from all of them and the difference it would make to this country (especially as it struggles to recover from the recession).

We may, individually, think we're saving a bit of money in the short term by supporting what Amazon is doing (and by buying from them, that's what we are doing) but in the longer term we're all losing out.
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sharkmark

I'm with the OP

I've read the articles with interest and I'm disgusted with the behaviour of these large brands. Stating they are doing what is fiscally responsible (attributed to Treevo above) might be true legally BUT it shows that some of our largest companies are morally bankrupt...

It is worth noting that I believe companies who are on the verge of financially bankrupt might have legitimate excuse not to pay corporation tax, but I don't think Amazon or Starbucks fit into that category. They do pay NI and tax on employees, BUT small traders like the OP are being driven out of business as they cannot compete. Soon we will be left with fewer options to buy from and we have all seen the effect of a lack of competition in the gas and electric industry. We are already seeing JL, Amazon and Tesco price matching on many items, without further competitors we are going to see far more fixed prices on the horizon.

Sadly the govt won't act in the short term, it'll take years for them to close all the loopholes, and an army of accountants will be looking for them, leaving one hope....consumer choice.

In order to better inform consumer choice we need a league table showing which companies pay the most tax as % of their turnover...if MSE produced such a list companies would want to ensure they were included unless they had something to hide... Therefore you'd end up with a saints and sinners list and could have a more informed choice.

I am determined not to use Amazon until they sort out their tax position, despite them being cheaper on occasion for items I buy. If everyone did this for just a month they'd change their stance pretty quickly...

BumbleBUK

Yep good idea... boycott one of the best websites on th' tinty coz they don't pay tax. The prices are usually the cheapest, the returns policy is second to none, couple that with free delivery and is obvious that a boycott is ridiculous!

If Amazon sold tins of beans at 1p cheaper than everywhere else they would be the darling of the MSE users and a boycott wouldn't even be considered!