Online campaigning group 38 Degrees has named eBay and Amazon in its 12 Tax Dodgers of Christmas list of businesses to boycott in protest of tax avoidance.
38 Degrees says that eBay has dodged £50 million of Corporation Tax by channeling funds through Luxembourg. The campaigning organisation also notes that Amazon has paid only £1.8 million on total sales of £3.35 billion. Other comapnies under the spotlight include Cadbury, Boots, Zavvi and Apple.
38 Degrees have said: “Until we can force the government to change the laws, we can use our power as customers to put pressure on the tax dodgers. Here is a handy guide on who to avoid when out Christmas shopping this year.”
We asked eBay for a comment and they said: “We pay all the tax we are required to in every country where we operate and comply fully with all national, EU and OECD rules (including specific OECD rules designed for e-commerce). Our corporate structure has been fully disclosed to various tax authorities across Europe.”
38 Degrees campaigns have a record of being successful and are generally powered by viral marketing and social media. The graphics below are being actively shared on Facebook and Twitter by campaign supporters.
35 Responses
lol Dan. 😀
I love the way these types of groups avoid mentioning some of the other facts about these businesses.
Take Sir Phillip, Arcadia have paid over £2.3 billion pounds in tax since he’s owned it and employs over 45,000 people, not including his supply chain which must employ 1000’s more people.
But let’s conveniently ignore those facts and just target him anyway….
‘You are now all guilty until you can prove otherwise. Hand over all your turnips” REJOICE COMRADES.
not a soul here pays more tax than they really need to, leave the companies alone concentrate on those that make the rules
I can’t believe Starbucks have offered to pay £10m a year for two years whether they owe it or not. I didn’t realise that tax was a voluntary charitable donation to the exchequer!
Do you think I could get away with “Dear Mr Tax Man, I’ve decided to fiddle my taxes and make a good will donation of £100.00 this year“
Nothing more than a PR stunt Chris.
From what I understand the lefty mob hero’s UK Uncut are going to invade Starbucks shops today and turn them into creches and homeless shelters…
Rejoice Comrades!! https://twitpic.com/bk1uce
All your turnips belong to me!
the best of luck to all these companies they provide WORK and wealth to millions
Just about every single company dodges tax. The reason is simply that our dozy politicians enable them to do so – then feign outrage when they find the coffers empty! The UK offers an unrivalled choice of tax havens (IoM, CI, Gibralatar, BVI, Caymans, etc) and any wealthy individual can ‘incorporate’ themselves, thereby slashing their 40% income tax rate down to 21% corporation tax. Remember, we’re all in it together.
There’s vast differences between what is illegal, immoral, slightly suspect and perfectly acceptable. It seems that all these are getting lumped together.
I really don’t want to check a company’s accounts every time I buy a coffee.
A small coffee shop could quite easily be costing the taxpayer more than a small Starbucks.
If the small coffee shop is run by a couple on their own with low profit and low turnover, then they may not be registered for VAT, not earn enough to pay income tax and even be on low income so they’re claiming benefits.
With increasing global markets direct taxation is likely to continue to fail and throw up anomalies. Only a global (or even European) standardised tax rate is likely to stop these types of issues.
put another way, all here will have an accountant, do you judge them on the amount of tax they can save you? or the amount of tax they find to pay?
It irks me that none of the fees I pay goes to the Exchequer via Ebay.UK profits. That’s not on, and as a patriot I hope this changes soon. Obviously I wouldn’t want anything detrimental to happen to my sales so I hope Ebay see sense. This could turn nasty, people are quite rightly outraged.
Let’s not forget something really, really important here….. IT IS NOT WHAT WE THINK THAT MATTERS A DOT, IT IS WHAT THE WIDER CUSTOMER THINKS THAT COUNTS. CURRENTLY THEY ARE FED A PILE OF STUFF BY THE PRESS ABOUT TAX AVOIDANCE SCHEMES THAT THEY INEVITABLY MUST MAKE UP THE SHORTFALL TO HMRC FOR. (capitals for a reason and I believe rightly). Untill these companies are percieved by their (and our customers) to be acting morally correctly, they are going to be financially punished in the long run by their customers. This has served as a wake-up call to them. It must be read by these companies as such. If they ignore it then they must beware it in the long run.
lest not forget these companies employ people who pay tax, they pay vat and local taxes etc etc ,