Amazon pays £1.7 million in tax

Tashyboy

Tashyboy

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In this day and age of cuts cuts cuts, how is a company who is making hundreds of millions allowed to get away with this.
 
Issue being that it seems they haven't done anything illegal, they've simply played the law. Ethically is it right - no, but I'm of the opinion that if we as joe public could get away with paying minimal tax then we would. Not sure many people would choose to pay full whack if they didn't have to.
 
There have been various reports [over the years] that if we ALL collectively paid our full whack...
Then tax across the board would be around 10%...

Well, I've always paid more than that [still do] so guessing there's too many that aren't...
Yet they seem to have government/bureaucracy's ear more than I'll ever have...

If you are taking profit out of a well functioning well ordered society then you should be prepared to make PROPER contributions to see that society remains in a good place...
 
AFAIK it's only part of the business which has paid this amount of tax, not the entire Amazon family.
As Adam says they aren't doing anything illegal, blame the system and the law makers, not the people who abide by them even though it leaves a bad taste.
 
Tashyboy said:
In this day and age of cuts cuts cuts, how is a company who is making hundreds of millions allowed to get away with this.
Click to expand...

They play by the rules Tash. They have invested heavily in the UK over the past few years and provide jobs for several thousand people. This I imagine give them certain privileges. I wish more companies did the same.
 
MegaSteve said:
There have been various reports [over the years] that if we ALL collectively paid our full whack...
Then tax across the board would be around 10%...

Well, I've always paid more than that [still do] so guessing there's too many that aren't...
Yet they seem to have government/bureaucracy's ear more than I'll ever have...

If you are taking profit out of a well functioning well ordered society then you should be prepared to make PROPER contributions to see that society remains in a good place...
Click to expand...
Totally agree, any loophole that is found to be legal but ethically wrong should be changed and the loophole closed immediately.
 
Loopholes will never be closed as it is the likes of Amazon who lobby for the loopholes and then governments just rolls over
 
What a load of Socialistic twaddle!

They have done nothing illegal and there is potential for considerable more tax to be collected - if staff decide to cash in their share allocations early!

It's the Government that make the rules! Companies simply abide by those those rules in the best interest of their staff and shareholders!

And Amazon UK is but a tiny part of the Amazon empire!

If you really feel that they are acting purely for their shareholders, then become a shareholder!!
 
Foxholer said:
What a load of Socialistic twaddle!

They have done nothing illegal and there is potential for considerable more tax to be collected - if staff decide to cash in their share allocations early!

It's the Government that make the rules! Companies simply abide by those those rules in the best interest of their staff and shareholders!

And Amazon UK is but a tiny part of the Amazon empire!

If you really feel that they are acting purely for their shareholders, then become a shareholder!!
Click to expand...
Typical Capitalist response, nothing illegal means it’s ok and we’re all sitting here with piles of money fiddled through benefits struggling to decide what companies to become shareholders in. :mad:
 
The striking thing in this thread is that people just assume "loopholes" are abused, rather than actually there for a legitimate purpose.

Having a family member who is a dual national, I am aware of how carefully they have to plan to avoid paying tax to each regime for the same transaction, they legally use exemptions to avoid this. Should they be punished and taxed twice, just because some people on the internet want to get their pitchforks out for Starbucks, Google, Amazon or whoever the current baddie is this week?
 
Their tax bill is low but surely every person they employ pays tax

Every purchase that goes through them is subject to vat

So they bring their share of the tax to the system
 
pauldj42 said:
This link explains it far better than I could.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-dr-philip-lee-mp-gmb-union-a8475976.html?amp

Find it funny that all of a sudden it’s a left/right issue or people are comparing an individual to a multi national company.
Click to expand...

That article is just a couple of peoples opinions, is there any specific part you are referring to?

I compared an individual, because it's a closely related analogy, not because it is the exact same thing.

If Amazon buy a widget in the USA, which was manufactured in China, and then they sell that Widget in the UK, where should tax be paid?
Every country involved will want a piece of the pie, should they be taxed 3 times?

This is what the current system has to deal with. If you have an issue, propose some credible solutions rather than just target the individuals with other opinions.
 
Dibby said:
That article is just a couple of peoples opinions, is there any specific part you are referring to?

I compared an individual, because it's a closely related analogy, not because it is the exact same thing.

If Amazon buy a widget in the USA, which was manufactured in China, and then they sell that Widget in the UK, where should tax be paid?
Every country involved will want a piece of the pie, should they be taxed 3 times?

This is what the current system has to deal with. If you have an issue, propose some credible solutions rather than just target the individuals with other opinions.
Click to expand...
If Conservative politicians are saying our corporation tax system is out dated and needs revising there is something wrong seriously wrong.
It was you targeting individuals first, “pitchforks” or that again a double standard :confused:

Massive difference between a multi national company paying 20 times less tax than British Companies in GB.
The widget you refer to, If they’ve added a huge % profit onto it to the seller in UK then they should pay tax on that UK profit, I don’t care how China and the US deal with it, that’s their problem.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
pauldj42 said:
If Conservative politicians are saying our corporation tax system is out dated and needs revising there is something wrong seriously wrong.
It was you targeting individuals first, “pitchforks” or that again a double standard :confused:

Massive difference between a multi national company paying 20 times less tax than British Companies in GB.
The widget you refer to, If they’ve added a huge % profit onto it to the seller in UK then they should pay tax on that UK profit, I don’t care how China and the US deal with it, that’s their problem.
Click to expand...

The "conservative politicians" line is just a distraction. You can find a few members of nearly any party to support a viewpoint, it doesn't mean a majority support that viewpoint, or even that it is the parties ideology.

It's not a double standard, because I was giving a reason why international tax treaties are as they are, you are the one suggesting they should be different, but not what that different is. It's easy to oppose something, but you need to oppose it with an alternative for it to be effective opposition.

The not caring about what China and the US do, despite perhaps sounding good, is not a feasible solution. It would mean UK consumers either pay ridiculous prices for goods, or companies stop selling the items here. The average corporation tax in China, UK and USA are 25%, 19% and 27%, that would be a lot of overhead that would inevitably be passed onto the bottom line.
 
Dibby said:
The "conservative politicians" line is just a distraction. You can find a few members of nearly any party to support a viewpoint, it doesn't mean a majority support that viewpoint, or even that it is the parties ideology.

It's not a double standard, because I was giving a reason why international tax treaties are as they are, you are the one suggesting they should be different, but not what that different is. It's easy to oppose something, but you need to oppose it with an alternative for it to be effective opposition.

The not caring about what China and the US do, despite perhaps sounding good, is not a feasible solution. It would mean UK consumers either pay ridiculous prices for goods, or companies stop selling the items here. The average corporation tax in China, UK and USA are 25%, 19% and 27%, that would be a lot of overhead that would inevitably be passed onto the bottom line.
Click to expand...
Deal 1: Amazon buy a Widget in US, pay whats required to widget supplier and both Widget supplier and Amazon pay Related taxes.

Deal 2: Supplier buys Widget from China and both US buyer and Chinese pay related taxes.

Deal 3: Amazon sell Widget to UK Customer, UK Customer happy, Amazon pay nowt to UK.

All above ok because Amazon have paid related taxes in other Countries :confused:

A UK Company buying same widget via same sources and selling to UK customer pays UK taxes.

That’s the difference.

As for saying none of us should oppose it without offering an alternate is ridiculous, it’s a forum, we share views and ideas.

I firmly believe taxes should be fair and we should not be punishing our own Uk companies, we should be looking after our own.

Amazon is taking millions out of this Country.
 
pauljames87 said:
Their tax bill is low but surely every person they employ pays tax

Every purchase that goes through them is subject to vat

So they bring their share of the tax to the system
Click to expand...

I pay vat, council tax, vehicle excuse duty etc. Not sure that means I'm excused income tax.... Typical non arguement to defend the indefensible.

Amazon use financial chicanory to gain a competitive advantage and deny revenue to every citizen in our country.
 
Right Tashyboy is back in da house. Me question was a quick question because I was out quick sharp this morning, so I never really said or thought whether I really thought it was right or wrong how much Amazon paid in tax.
However having given this some thought, it stinks to high heaven. They/ Amazon worldwide are making Billions. They may well be employing X number of people worldwide. On minimum wage no doubt. But have you considered how many people they have made redundant worldwide whilst undercutting people/shops / companies who actually paid taxes on there " Widgets" in this country. There may well be a loophole that they are exploiting every soddin year. Said hole wants slamming shut.
 
All companies should pay the going rate tax in the country of sale. (uK)
This is then a level playing field .
If they don’t like this arrangement don’t be a multinational and just stay in your country of origin.
This might be simple but it would work.
Can you see Amazon saying Ok we won’t trade ​in the UK.
 
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