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Should Tax avoiding firms be named and shamed

Tax-avoiding firms should not be named and shamed, says minister Danny Alexander refuses to endorse MPs' suggestion that companies failing to pay fair share of tax be publicly identified



A senior minister has ruled out the naming and shaming of companies that are paying little or no corporation tax.


Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, said such a move was not a good idea because it would breach taxpayer confidentiality.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/03/tax-avoiding-firms-not-named-shamed
"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....

"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham

Should tax avoiding firms be named and shamed 59 votes

Yes
66% 39 votes
No
33% 20 votes
«1345678

Comments

  • This is utter rubbish. There are rules in this country and if these companies are not breaking them, then they have done nothing wrong.

    I think we should boycott starbucks due to the ridiculous price they charge for a cup of coffee.

    What tax they pay is irrelevant. They are a company designed to make profit for their shareholders. They are not a charity.

    If the UK wants them to pay tax, change the law so they pay it. Don't expect it to be voluntarily handed over.
  • Tax avoidance is not against the law.

    Should we name and shame everyone that has an ISA the tax avoiding scum!
    Thinking critically since 1996....
  • ILW
    ILW Posts: 18,333 Forumite
    How can you name and shame for obeying the law?
  • grizzly1911
    grizzly1911 Posts: 9,965 Forumite
    ILW wrote: »
    How can you name and shame for obeying the law?

    Why did they pick on Starbucks, Amazon and Google in isolation?
    "If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....

    "big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham
  • Wookster
    Wookster Posts: 3,795 Forumite
    Why did they pick on Starbucks, Amazon and Google in isolation?

    It is a very slippery slope when we have MPs moralising waving their fingers in the air telling companies what is moral and what isn't, whilst clearly forgetting their own murky sins (MPs expenses).

    Tax is paid in accordance with the law. If there companies have broken the law (which I believe has not actually been tested) then there should be due process. But naming companies without any proof is surely premature and will not to anything to make the UK a more likely place for investment.

    MPs grandstanding actually detracts from HMRC's failure to examine corporate tax returns properly and this is where most time and effort should be spent.
  • abaxas
    abaxas Posts: 4,141 Forumite
    How many people claim tax credits?

    Name and shame them too?
  • danothy
    danothy Posts: 2,200 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    The easier solution is to just give every person one vote for every pound they pay in tax between each election and then make taxation a completely optional donation based system. That way there's no "right" or "wrong" amount of tax for someone to pay, but there's incentive to pay it. The masses can still come together to be a voting force by paying small amounts each and backing a candidate that listens to them, and those with high incomes will have to give up a lot of their wealth to exert their political will.
    If you think of it as 'us' verses 'them', then it's probably your side that are the villains.
  • Carl31
    Carl31 Posts: 2,616 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    This argument is ridiculous, its just a smoke screen, designed by the government to con the sun reading population of Britain into blaming the evil corporations for the recession, instead of their poor economic strategy.

    All that will happen is these companies will up sticks from the UK, taking their jobs and economic injection with them, making things worse for everyone
  • coastline
    coastline Posts: 1,662 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Maybe we need more uniform rules and regulations on an international level...a level playing field.
    If very little is to be changed the idea that a company pays a percentage tax relating to their share of business in that country seems a fair proposal.
  • maybe the uk could offer clubcard points if you base your multinational here.
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