Paying your fair share of tax

[d000hg]

Google may face grilling by MPs over 'immoral' tax avoidance ? The Register

Google could be hauled in front of MPs after the 2011 results for its UK subsidiary showed it paid just £6m in tax on a turnover of £395m. It effectively paid a 1.5 per cent duty when in fact the top-end UK corporation tax rate is 24 per cent.

John Mann, an MP and member of the Treasury Select Committee, suggested the advertising giant should explain itself for its "entirely improper and immoral" behaviour.

So when it's individuals, specifically innocent hard-working contractors, who are being attacked the government is in the wrong for construing legal avoidance as immoral. Do the same views hold when it's a big cold corporate multinational, or is it 'only fair' that they get the same treatment as we do?

[The Spartan]

While it's only fair that everyone should be treated fairly, big corporations are a law unto themselves and have massive resources at hand to cut down on what they pay. They no doubt have an army of advisers and accountants, I'm not sure how many people employ in the UK but the government needs to be pretty careful as companies can relocate elsewhere if needed as other companies have done.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

They employ about 1200 people in the UK.
Is there ever a point at which it might be good to stand up to them or do we just have to bend over all the time?
Just asking, like. My instant reaction to any git face who threatens to take their bat home if we make them play properly is flip off then.

[Robinho]

Corporate tax is a fairly pointless tax anyway. I think they should do away with it myself.

[SimonMac]

To be honest unless they start making sense I won't be paying any attention of this, the 1.5% is based on the turnover?! Wait a minute I only pay CT on my profits

[Scoobos]

Peoplesoft, I think the time has long passed when governments had the power to do anything

That said, I think governments (the current one included) constantly undersell London and the UK , by playing the "they will leave if we force legislation" card.

London is prestigious and companies WANT to be able to say they have offices there, yet governments (probably funded by the buggas) protect their interests , stating that they'd leave, as if its even that easy.

[swamp]

Interestingly Parliamentary Select Committees actually have little or no powers. They cannot force witnesses to attend and they cannot force witnesses to answer questions. They are nothing more than a bunch of moody people sat round a semi-circular table:

Murdochs could not have been forced to give select committee evidence, report says | Joshua Rozenberg | Law | guardian.co.uk

Google should simply tell John Mann and his Treasury 'Select Committee' to jog on.

[Old Greg]

I always thought that Google break even everywhere except Ireland. Learnt something new.