George Monbiot has written under the above title in the Guardian this morning. He discusses the Vodafone case and makes the point that the quantum owing is not the issue, per se. The attitude of this government (and its predecessor to some degree) towards lax taxation of big business is the issue.
Drawing heavily on my work he argues that:
HMRC's inability or unwillingness to pursue big tax avoiders means that taxation shifts from the rich to the poor. As corporate payments fall, either the poor must pay more or services must be hit even harder. Regardless of the exact amount Vodafone avoided, the protesters are right to picket its shops (and they might have a go at Boots while they're at it). We are living in a country where the poor bail out the banks, while the rich keep their billions intact.
That’s the issue. And it’s wholly justified to protest about that.
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And how do you imagine HMRC would “pursue big tax avoiders”? Even assuming that is what Vodaphone is (a big, flawed assumption), HMRCs charter is to assess and collect tax, not to formulate fiscal policy.
@alastair
well if you believe that then you really are out of touch
Almost all tax legislation in the UK is written by HMRC
of course it is in their remit to formulate fiscal policy
Get real
This is not entirely on topic Richard, but Monbiot’s mention of how we are still paying for the mistakes of the banks (i.e. capital) while they’ve boosted their profits – and thus bonuses – through ‘exploiting’ quantitative easing (as you pointed out in a post recently, makes it worth sharing. A brilliant piece from the RSA animates series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0
@Richard Murphy
I guess that even if you are partly correct in this it goes a long way to explaining some of their shortcomings! But I think you have called it wrong. They might bang on about stuff, but it is still Osborne who calls the policy shots; whether you agree with him or not.
@alastair
Sure, some of the policy shots are called by the politicians
of course
And by HM Treasury
But do not underestimate the role of HMRC
these guys all share a building for reason
@alastair
but that is a broken feedback loop. If it worked we would never have had tax credits.