Not the only opticians out there!

Yes, dj. But that is the government's fault, not the companies. THAT is the salient point but people keep criticising the companies as if they made the law of the land. The responsibility to change stupid laws lies with government. I should have thought at least you would understand that but you are so busy being anti private company that you have apparently forgotten the source of the problem: bad tax law.

Given that Labour, when in power, didn't change the laws either, I'm left wondering if there are some national advantages in bad tax law or whether it is just all shades government head in the sand syndrome.

The short answer, dj, is yes, you are right, but have you asked WHY?

Because if you did ask why, you'd blame law makers not businesses who simply have to abide by the laws there are. They have no responsibility towards laws some of us might like there to be.

Business responsibilities are their customers and their shareholders.

Government responsibilities are national services such as the NHS.

It's rather foolish to be "anti-business" as without private businesses the would be no NHS at all. It should also be remembered that whilst we may not be happy with the level of tax paid by some large organizations, the staff working within them are subject to the same PAYE rules as the rest of us.

gj, and others, you are failing to understand the salient point: Specsavers, Starbucks, etc are paying tax as they should, i.e. what the law says they must pay. It is tax law that is at fault for not making them pay more than they do and that is not the fault of anyone but our politicians.

Point taken thatbags- and yet! Why should I go to Starbucks and drink their coffee (crappy anahow, but that is besides the point) and eat their dried up industrial cakes- knowing they will not pay FAIR tax- when I can go to the small independent Café around the corner and have delicious coffee and fresh home made cake (I know this is irrelevant too, re tax)- and know that they have NO choice but to pay tax at much higher rate. I'll support them all the way everytime. It is so unfair that small businesses have to pay full tax and large ones get away with not.

We can vote with our feet, and put pressure on those businesses- if the government won't- and it HAS A HUGE EFFECT on the attitude of those businesses when they see their profits go down the pan.

And of course it makes no sense to be anti-business. But I am pro FAIR business- those that pay fair wages and pay fair taxes.

It's surely not the fault of a business for not paying what "we" deem to be fair taxes but the fault of the system that allows it. Running a micro business myself I can honestly say that I would happily take advantage of any tax break offered ( sadly there are none) which would enable me to invest in the business itself. I do think it's very unfair that I am forced to pay corporation tax on my very small profit when we are in desperate need of new machines/ equipment we cannot afford to buy when big businesses and rich individuals take the tax man out to dinner negotiate the amount of tax they are prepared to pay.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2015/10/01/of-tax-havens-tax-evasion-and-desperate-prime-ministers/

This government is supported by companies which flout the tax laws and pay their accountants to find loopholes to do so.
I want tax laws to be improved which is why I support Corbyn.
What do you want in the future, bags?
It's what happens from now on that matters.
Cameron and Osborne said they would stop tax evasion, but they have now gone back on their promise.
Corbyn will not, with the help of Richard Murphy of Tax Research.
Do you actually want things to stay as they are, with big companies not doing country by country reporting and not paying the taxes in the country where the transactions take place?
I repeat, what do you want to happen?

Indeed gillybob, this is so unfair for small businesses for you. Which is why I personally believe we should do everything we can, by putting political pressure on big businesses that do not pay fair tax, and vote with our feet and mainly, purse or card- to pay fair taxes. I just cannot fathom why this is deemed to be on 'high horse' and/or giving lessons on 'morality'- There are plenty of other businesses we can buy presents for family on line other than Amazon too!

And don't get me started on Non Doms- who dodge tax in massive amounts year after year- some having lived in the UK for 10, 20, 30 or more years. They don't take their accountants out for dinner- they go to the Bahamas or other very posh locations for weeks at a time- all paid for- to stitch the system (eg US- our education, NHS and social services and more) up! Talking about billions here too!

Have a look at the work of Prof. Mildred Warner at Cornell. People love to cherry pick cases to support their own pet point of view when it comes to public vs private, but Warner has done a systematic review extending to tens of thousands of utilities in hundreds of countries. Her verdict? No net difference between public and private, either way.

I want tax laws to be improved too, dj. I'm surprised you had to ask. The point is only that the political pressure gj mentions needs to be on the government, not the businesses. It's not the fault of the businesses that they don't pay more tax–they pay what they have to pay, same as you and me–but of the politicians. That's all I'm saying and it remains, as far as I can see, the salient point.

I expect it's one of the reasons lots of people support Corbyn. I'll be interested to hear how he intends to go about it in due course.

Thanks for that info, crun.

That was four years ago, Crun. Is there anything more up to date.
A lot has changed since then.

Bags, any business can sign up to this.

www.fairtaxmark.net/

Most of them do not because they see shareholders and offshore tax havens being more important than the common good.
That is the salient point as far as I am concerned.