Tax avoidance happens when you invest in an ISA, buy duty free or otherwise avoid paying tax. From pensions to alcohol everybody does it. The Government has set up the tax system to let it happen. The tax avoider is not immoral, it is the tax system.
Tax avoidance is not tax evasion. Tax evasion is breaking tax laws, tax avoidance does not break any laws. However, tax avoidance can be immoral even though it is not illegal.
Why is the tax system immoral in the case of Starbucks, Google, Amazon etc? It is immoral because of EU tax laws that allow a company to take its profits in Luxembourg or Ireland when it is trading in England. I notice that those who are screaming "immoral!" are keen to keep the EU system and shift the blame onto the companies. It is these agitators who are immoral, they should be agitating to get us out of the EU not screaming at the players in the EU game when it is the game itself that is wrong. The BBC, who know well that corporate tax avoidance is a gift of the EU, are just plain evil for suppressing the truth.
If the UK withdrew from the EU it could plug all of these tax loopholes and save tens of billions on unfair trading and subsidies. The EU is our biggest trading partner and far and away our biggest source of trading and tax losses.
How Corporations pay low tax
According to international agreements Corporates are allowed to play with intra-company transfers of cash from country to country in certain circumstances: "International tax rules allow companies to deduct royalty payments to associated entities, provided they are at "arms length".(Reuters).
Notice that these charges and payments must be "at arms length", according to international rules Starbucks can charge another company for using its logo and recipes but cannot charge itself except in exceptional circumstances.
It is European Law, not international law, that allows transfers that are not at "arms length". The Reuters article goes on to say:
"European Union rules allow the transfer of such fees within the bloc without tax deductions, but require withholding taxes to be levied when the fees are moved outside the bloc."
Individual countries, such as Holland etc., get around the problem of witholding taxes:
"But Dutch tax law allows companies to send royalty fees earned in other countries on to tax havens without incurring taxes."
This means that companies can trade in Britain, charge the British part of their company millions for the priviledge of trading, take these millions in Holland without tax then transfer them to Bermuda, the USA etc.
Here is a good review of one of the most aggressive schemes The Double Irish Dutch Sandwich. This scheme will be ending soon, it was set up by the Irish government to play deliberately into the EU tax avoidance loopholes.
The European Union has designed its tax system to allow this tax avoidance.
Countries outside the EU do not lose corporation tax.
Most countries simply tax corporations on their profits and disallow intra-group transfers that are clearly aimed at tax avoidance. EU countries are not able to do this. The EU has three features that are not part of International Tax Law that encourage avoidance: it allows free transfer of money from country to country within the EU, it allows royalty charges that are not at "arms length" and it allows the Dutch to funnel the money to tax havens.
See
European Companies also use EU to Dodge Tax
The future of globalization
EU membership and laying up treasure from overseas
Tax avoidance is not tax evasion. Tax evasion is breaking tax laws, tax avoidance does not break any laws. However, tax avoidance can be immoral even though it is not illegal.
Why is the tax system immoral in the case of Starbucks, Google, Amazon etc? It is immoral because of EU tax laws that allow a company to take its profits in Luxembourg or Ireland when it is trading in England. I notice that those who are screaming "immoral!" are keen to keep the EU system and shift the blame onto the companies. It is these agitators who are immoral, they should be agitating to get us out of the EU not screaming at the players in the EU game when it is the game itself that is wrong. The BBC, who know well that corporate tax avoidance is a gift of the EU, are just plain evil for suppressing the truth.
If the UK withdrew from the EU it could plug all of these tax loopholes and save tens of billions on unfair trading and subsidies. The EU is our biggest trading partner and far and away our biggest source of trading and tax losses.
How Corporations pay low tax
According to international agreements Corporates are allowed to play with intra-company transfers of cash from country to country in certain circumstances: "International tax rules allow companies to deduct royalty payments to associated entities, provided they are at "arms length".(Reuters).
Notice that these charges and payments must be "at arms length", according to international rules Starbucks can charge another company for using its logo and recipes but cannot charge itself except in exceptional circumstances.
It is European Law, not international law, that allows transfers that are not at "arms length". The Reuters article goes on to say:
"European Union rules allow the transfer of such fees within the bloc without tax deductions, but require withholding taxes to be levied when the fees are moved outside the bloc."
Individual countries, such as Holland etc., get around the problem of witholding taxes:
"But Dutch tax law allows companies to send royalty fees earned in other countries on to tax havens without incurring taxes."
This means that companies can trade in Britain, charge the British part of their company millions for the priviledge of trading, take these millions in Holland without tax then transfer them to Bermuda, the USA etc.
Here is a good review of one of the most aggressive schemes The Double Irish Dutch Sandwich. This scheme will be ending soon, it was set up by the Irish government to play deliberately into the EU tax avoidance loopholes.
The European Union has designed its tax system to allow this tax avoidance.
Countries outside the EU do not lose corporation tax.
Most countries simply tax corporations on their profits and disallow intra-group transfers that are clearly aimed at tax avoidance. EU countries are not able to do this. The EU has three features that are not part of International Tax Law that encourage avoidance: it allows free transfer of money from country to country within the EU, it allows royalty charges that are not at "arms length" and it allows the Dutch to funnel the money to tax havens.
See
European Companies also use EU to Dodge Tax
The future of globalization
EU membership and laying up treasure from overseas
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