We're in this together

[Clippy]

We're in this together. But some are more in this together than others.

Oh, yes.

[TheFaQQer]

We're in this together. But some are more in this together than others.

[RichardCranium]

Bit heavy for a Friday night, can't we talk about USB c*ck rings please?

Bit less booze and you wouldn't need the cock ring.

The exemption applies solely to "large and medium companies": it is not available for smaller firms. The government says it expects "large financial services companies to make the greatest use of the exemption regime".

Is it con-incidence this kind of cock-up has been occurring ever since the big consultancy firms got their fingers into the top levels of government?

[d000hg]

SY we all know you simply use the USB socket... one of the benefits of a tiny lad is you can fit it in all kinds of odd places. Be proud.

[suityou01]

Bit heavy for a Friday night, can't we talk about USB c*ck rings please?

[AtW]

OH FFS, any attempt to take any tax whatsoever from my offshore account is theft and Tory like thing to do!

hth

BolshieBast@rd

[TykeMerc]

That's bright, any international company with a brain will put its entire cost base into a small UK subsidiary to register a monstrous loss against UK tax, have its business profits in the cheapest regime it can find then funnel them through the UK.

Looks like a lose-lose-lose again situation.

[Clippy]

Of course we are.

Excerpt of article below:

At the moment tax law ensures that companies based here, with branches in other countries, don't get taxed twice on the same money. They have to pay only the difference between our rate and that of the other country. If, for example, Dirty Oil plc pays 10% corporation tax on its profits in Oblivia, then shifts the money over here, it should pay a further 18% in the UK, to match our rate of 28%. But under the new proposals, companies will pay nothing at all in this country on money made by their foreign branches.

Foreign means anywhere. If these proposals go ahead, the UK will be only the second country in the world to allow money that has passed through tax havens to remain untaxed when it gets here. The other is Switzerland. The exemption applies solely to "large and medium companies": it is not available for smaller firms. The government says it expects "large financial services companies to make the greatest use of the exemption regime". The main beneficiaries, in other words, will be the banks.

But that's not the end of it. While big business will be exempt from tax on its foreign branch earnings, it will, amazingly, still be able to claim the expense of funding its foreign branches against tax it pays in the UK. No other country does this. The new measures will, as we already know, accompany a rapid reduction in the official rate of corporation tax: from 28% to 24% by 2014.

These measures will drain not only wealth but also jobs from the UK. The new legislation will create a powerful incentive to shift business out of this country and into nations with lower corporate tax rates. Any UK business that doesn't outsource its staff or funnel its earnings through a tax haven will find itself with an extra competitive disadvantage. The new rules also threaten to degrade the tax base everywhere, as companies with headquarters in other countries will demand similar measures from their own governments.