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

FrugalFranny

That's what I usually think when ever the government grumble about tax avoidance, I get the feeling most of it would just go to line MP's pockets a little more. Much like if everyone in England had a job and no one claimed benefits we'd still end up paying roughly the same amount it tax.
But I could be wrong, I may have lost faith in politicians to the point where I'm not seeing the whole picture anymore.

thor

Lying, cheating and stealing politicians are a necessary evil I'm afraid. This is due to them being placed in a position of power; It always has been. The only reason it seems to be getting worse is that modern technology is catching more of them out these days.
Mind you, if you think our lot are bad you should take a look at Europe or the Indian Sub-continent - those guys make British MPs look like angels.

Doc_N

littlereddevil wrote: »

If they did pay taxes our government would just hand it to some other foreign country anyway. I'm sure they wouldn't use the money wisely for the good of this country.

What an idiotic comment! Wherever the money goes, can't you see that any gap in the country's finances left by Amazon, Boots etc not paying their fair share has to be made up by the rest of us - or cut out of spending on the NHS, education etc?

woollyjumper

Treevo wrote: »

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?

I agree with Treevo. The government in this country and others need to be more savvy. 6 years and it has took until now to realise and do something !

pmduk

Robmoreton wrote: »

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

I'm sorry, but that's naive. Why should customers suffer by paying more in prices to cover for a Government that doesn't like the effect that it's own rules have had? Nobody should pay more tax than they need to. It's long held stance that has been legally tested and confirmed on many occasions.

billyboychrisd

Thanks for posting this article, it's good to drive discussion and provoke change, if we don't, we will get poorer quicker while they get richer quicker!

On another note, do this many people really like Starbucks coffee, it tastes so bitter to me! :S

TRace

I have consciously not ordered from Amazon several times since this all came to light, I hope more people do the same. I've never really seen the attraction of Starbucks so I've never really used them in the first place.

marrbett

billyboychrisd wrote: »

Thanks for posting this article, it's good to drive discussion and provoke change, if we don't, we will get poorer quicker while they get richer quicker!

On another note, do this many people really like Starbucks coffee, it tastes so bitter to me! :S

I agree with the starbucks bit, I drink black coffee, and its yukky at starbucks.

Doc_N

pmduk wrote: »

I'm sorry, but that's naive. Why should customers suffer by paying more in prices to cover for a Government that doesn't like the effect that it's own rules have had? Nobody should pay more tax than they need to. It's long held stance that has been legally tested and confirmed on many occasions.

Legally speaking, you're right, of course. Avoidance is legal and evasion isn't.

There are such things as ethics and morals, however. Companies that behave morally and ethically deserve our business. Those that don't do not.

If companies like Amazon and Boots choose to avoid UK taxes (thus increasing the burden on the rest of us to pay for the NHS etc) by shunting profits to low tax regimes, that's fine. We don't have to shop there, though, and a consumer backlash can force these companies to behave ethically.

And it's not necessarily benefitting customers by lower prices - it's far more likely to be benefitting shareholders with increased dividends. Since when did Boots ever provide its customers with low prices?

closed

jap200 wrote: »

. I would rather keep the lot, but I don't because tax is a fact of life which keeps this country going.
.

employers and employees national insurance is a fact of life for most people too, unless they pay themselves dividends instead of paye, ni on 100k wage is about 18k