Boycotting Amazon

I think you've got a bit of a cheek granjura. You don't know me or my circumstances. I have subscribed to Amazon Prime so I'm not going to waste that and I also have a Kindle. I will shop where I like

We reap what we sow, sadly.
Must say I am so disappointed with this apathy and lack of being able to take a bit of inconvenience to make a necessary point. I live right out in the sticks, and abroad too. But I can order from Argos and the Gift Company, and sidestep Amazon. Hardly going to kill us, is it! Over and out.

Amazon is a lifeline for me. We live miles away from any shops and trips to Peterborough or Cambridge would cost a lot in petrol. Christmas shopping has to be done online and all the DGCs can update their wish lists which helps me to choose the right gifts.

Can't see that happening somehow.

Nothing illegal - something immoral. Of course a few Gransnetter won't make much difference - but if a significant proportion of UK tax payers did, it would.

They took advantage of an opportunity that would benefit them, who wouldn't? They have done nothing illegal.

I'm sorry, granjura, but a handful of Gransnetters withholding their orders isn't going to affect or sway Amazon one jot. If it's a matter of principle for you, fair enough, but I don't think they will care!

Of course, and better than that- write to them to say you have not ordered, and why. Of course the loophole has to be closed by the Government- but we also can make ourselves heard.

Must say it truly annoys me, that people complain on Forums, say it is wrong- and then say 'oh but I couldn't do without'- even for a short while to make a strong point/impact.

How many of us would really 'suffer' from not using Amazon until the New Year? None.

I'm afraid if I were earning a vast amount of money and paying lots of tax and my accountant informed me there was a legal way to reduce that amount, I'd do it.

Therefore the way forward seems to be to close the loophole.

Just received an e-mail from Amazon giving me a £10 voucher. I used the opportunity to tell them I will not be using it, and the reasons why. If more people did this, I am sure they will take notice.

They have paid zero taxes in the UK - so how can they have paid the tax they owe? How many of us, either as individuals or via our business, get away with paying zero tax on multi-billion profits. How can you even begin to try and condone this?

Amazon will have paid all the tax that they need to pay.

Who here will contact the Inland Revenue and say 'You've taken the tax I owe - now here's a cheque for some more...'?

Well... who?

https://www.facebook.com/TRAPTheRealArtofProtest

This link has some interesting stuff too!

need to get National WI to start campaigning on this... all GN /WI members should write to Ruth Bond and ask that this be considered for a main resolution for the coming year!

How about boycotting all the British companies that avoid corporation tax by having their HQs in Dublin, the channel islands and other low tax areas?

Thing is, a boycott would not have to last long. A massive short sharp shock, with Christmas sales seriously down, would deliver a strong message. Totally disagree that it is not worthwhile because of sales in other countries. The UK market is huge for them- and I am sure they would take notice.

Which does not mean that we need to put pressure for those loopholes to be closed.

You couldn't make it up...

The whole tax system needs simplifying and that would go a long way towards closing loopholes. It is so complicated the Revenue and Customs don't even understand it, especially since they got rid of their most senior people as a cost cutting exercise. Btw did you know that their London offices were sold to a company and then rented back on the basis that this would save money. I don't know if it was an economical move but the company in question is incorporated offshore and pays no tax in the UK.

Amazon might not notice a boycott but the alternative companies we use might notice an increase in sales. I walked down my local highstreet yesterday and decided I could get all my christmas presents from there. I will not be buying from Amazon this year. A slight hesitation over my kindle but, I have been using it a lot less because I can usually reserve anything I want to read from my local library, I may have to wait a few weeks but no hardship. Forget kindle its important to keep our local library open. I am also angry that after buying a kindle I can only download books from amazon at the moment.

Boycotting a company like Amazon is a waste of time. With their global reach of millions of customers, even if every customer in the UK stopped using them, they could move their operations to somewhere outside the UK, or just re brand themselves with a new name and we'd all still rush to buy from them.

What it needs is the Government to close these loopholes. Of course that would force prices up as they will still want to make a profit.

After the news about Starbucks tax situation broke I noticed that Starbucks was empty for a couple of days but everyone is back there now.

Can any of us honestly say that we would pay tax that we weren't legally obliged to pay? It seems to me that it is tax laws that are the real problem.

My finances would bounce back to instant health if I could do this - but what would everybody get for Christmas and what would I read?

Boycott Amazon ! are you mad ?

Well .... I am an Amazon" junkie" but thought can I survive without it ? I had several items in my basket (Christmas gifts) ready to purchase so I decided try to get them else where.It actually was not as difficult as I thought and managed to get all the items on other websites and actually paid LESS than Amazon even including postage..Go Me lol
The sticking point for me is my Kindle ,however my stepdaughter assures me that I can download from elsewhere (bought me out in a cold sweat)As for Starbucks I have been boycotting them for some time now (they refused to send some freebies to troops serving in Iraq)
Really shouldn't the government be more proactive and close these loopholes that allows this to happen,wont be holding my breath though !!!