IN/OUT Trump card time...

gfplux

Scarpacci wrote: »

Even if Britain leaves and the EU manages not to unravel, GDP in Luxembourg could fall if all those multinationals actually have to pay tax in the UK rather than their British sales magically being made by a company in Luxembourg.

Perhaps Michaels would explain to you why your comment is so, so wrong.
Just a hint.... "Transfer pricing" A number of those Companies declare their profits in Bemuda, Panama, etc. Not in Luxembourg
Their sales might be on the books in Luxembourg but their profits are not.
Keep up at the back

gfplux

michaels wrote: »

Cos after all it is not as if once the 2m plus economic migrants Germany has admitted will be free to travel to the UK once they have been naturalised......

Is the first rule of economics to exaggerate?

mwpt

michaels wrote: »

It is hard for remain as the future under remain is not what the majority want so instead they have to focus their campaign on how the future under leave would be worse.
Leave last week tried to paint a picture of what the first 4 years under leave would look like but the media ignored it.

That picture had no substance. It was essentially repeating the same trite soundbites.

CLAPTON

Generali wrote: »

If I buy something from the EU surely I'm trading with it...?

so you are arguing that virtually every UK resident is an experienced international trader?
no need to stay in the EU then is there with this wealth of experience in international trade

michaels

gfplux wrote: »

Is the first rule of economics to exaggerate?

I thought there was a specific timetabled set of legislative proposals including not starting the 2 year exit negotiations clock for 18 months. Although to be fair it also included exiting the echr which as we know has nothing to do (currently) with EU membership.

Scarpacci

gfplux wrote: »

Perhaps Michaels would explain to you why your comment is so, so wrong.
Just a hint.... "Transfer pricing" A number of those Companies declare their profits in Bemuda, Panama, etc. Not in Luxembourg
Their sales might be on the books in Luxembourg but their profits are not.
Keep up at the back

Well, that's much better for Britain, isn't it! If Luxembourg's best defence is that it isn't the final parasite and some other nation leeches its tax revenues as well, well I might suggest they don't print that on the tourist brochures.

International tax avoidance is bothersome, but when it's happening in the European Union from our supposed "friends" it's particularly sickening. Especially given Luxembourg's privileged place at the heart of the EU, providing two European presidents. They do very well out of it all, clearly.

gfplux

Scarpacci wrote: »

Even if Britain leaves and the EU manages not to unravel, GDP in Luxembourg could fall if all those multinationals actually have to pay tax in the UK rather than their British sales magically being made by a company in Luxembourg.

I just wanted to remind you of your original posting SCARPACCI.

I then pointed out the Luxembourg does not recieve any taxes due to the UK.
Just like many multi nationals in Lndon who also use transfer pricing.
ALL COUNTRYS have used various inducements over the years to win attractive inward investment (HQ's, Offices and Factory's) Luxembourg has on a number of occasions won that competition.

The "parasite" brush you wish to use paints wide and long with The UK and London being a very successful player in the game. Which ultimately is suppose to benefit the economy.

I might add that The UK will lose much of its competitive advantages if it leaves the EU.

CLAPTON

gfplux wrote: »

I just wanted to remind you of your original posting SCARPACCI.

I then pointed out the Luxembourg does not recieve any taxes due to the UK.
Just like many multi nationals in Lndon who also use transfer pricing.
ALL COUNTRYS have used various inducements over the years to win attractive inward investment (HQ's, Offices and Factory's) Luxembourg has on a number of occasions won that competition.

The "parasite" brush you wish to use paints wide and long with The UK and London being a very successful player in the game. Which ultimately is suppose to benefit the economy.

I might add that The UK will lose much of its competitive advantages if it leaves the EU.

One assumes that you would totally welcome an EU directive to stop transfer pricing and ensure unform business taxes across he EU.

Scarpacci

gfplux wrote: »

I then pointed out the Luxembourg does not recieve any taxes due to the UK.
Just like many multi nationals in Lndon who also use transfer pricing.
ALL COUNTRYS have used various inducements over the years to win attractive inward investment (HQ's, Offices and Factory's) Luxembourg has on a number of occasions won that competition.

I think most European countries win that game more than the UK does. It's considered state aid for us to try attract companies to Britain, but fine for the EU to give money to Poland to attract a "Mondelez" factory (that's the ridiculous name for what was Kraft's chocolate and candy division which owns Cadbury). Now, I'll fully accept Luxembourg is far too rich to be on the receiving end of that kind of money. But it's clear the EU is a zero-sum game and I don't think at all the UK is on the winning side.

Luxembourg may not be the worst and I understand this happens all over the world. There are many tax havens which fly the British flag. Luxembourg is the most noticeable in the EU. When I order a book from a certain website which shall remain nameless, despite it coming from a warehouse in Scotland on British roads to my home in Britain, apparently I "transacted" with some S.a.r.l in Luxembourg? I've never been there, the book I ordered has never been there, the likely East European worker who picked and packed it has probably never been there, and the delivery driver probably hasn't been there either. It's a strange world we live in. That's not the only example, this happens frequently and not just with these digital age companies.

gfplux wrote: »

The "parasite" brush you wish to use paints wide and long with The UK and London being a very successful player in the game. Which ultimately is suppose to benefit the economy.

The same vested interests that keep the UK in the EU are the ones making sure the UK exploits these loopholes. I think leaving the EU could be the deathblow for this strain of capitalism which only benefits big businesses. The EU's at the heart of that. For corporations which rely on cheap labour being conveyed around Europe, if you don't see profits or sales as something real but instead an ephemeral concept which can magically disappear and reappear in any low-tax jurisdiction you want, of course they love the EU. It's part of the corporatist cabal.

gfplux wrote: »

I might add that The UK will lose much of its competitive advantages if it leaves the EU.

We'll have to see the UK does leave. I think there's more to the world than the EU and focusing on that particular market hasn't been wise for the past eight years or so. A forceful reorientation might put Britain in a better place.