Tax Evaders!

Nearly all of Britain's biggest companies legally avoid tax in the UK, including the state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, according to new research. Action Aid found that 98 out of the 100 companies on the FTSE 100 base their operations in territories where there is low or no tax. The heaviest users were based in the financial sector despite the industry's role in the economic crisis.

Britain's four biggest banks - HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and RBS - have 1,649 tax haven companies between them. But with 611 subsidiaries in tax havens, advertising giant WPP tops the list. Broadly a state or territory is considered a tax haven if it offers a low or zero rate of tax as well as a politically and economically stable environment to companies and individuals. The UK has a number of these regions under its jurisdiction, including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

The charity says the practice is having a massive impact on both rich and poor countries, with developing nations losing three times more to tax havens than they receive in aid each year. The only two firms on Britain's main share index that did not avoid tax in this way are precious metals miner Fresnillo and Bristol-based financial services provider Hargreaves Lansdown.

Action Aid's tax justice expert Chris Jordan said:

"Tax havens have a damaging impact on the UK exchequer, the stability of the international financial system, and vitally on the ability of developing countries to raise tax revenues which would lift them out of poverty and make them less dependent on aid.

"When multinationals use tax havens to avoid paying their fair share, ordinary people in both poor and rich countries are left to pick up the bill. Spending on doctors, nurses and other essential services gets cut for those who need it most.

"Tax havens might provide the lure of financial secrecy and low tax rates for big companies, but at a time when all countries are desperate for revenues, the UK government can't afford to turn a blind eye."

Edited and adapted from original article here.

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So where are the screaming mobs of indignant middle-England tax payers and Daily Mail readers now? Haven't we suffered years of 'Scroungers!' headlines aimed at some half-arsed attempt at fiddling the dole money for a few thousand pounds? They were foaming at the mouth at the prospect of tearing into the benefit 'cheats' and homeless 'spongers'. But now they are strangely quiet when presented with evidence of wholesale tax evasion on a massive scale robbing the UK economy of millions. Strangely the mouthpeices of the status-quo are quiet.

Yet doesn't this revelation show that if you steal a little you're an affront to society, but that if you steal, or sorry - evade an awful lot more, it's merely 'business'? The truth is, capitalism is driven to make a profit ONLY, even if that means resorting to underhand, evasive or downright illegal means. The answer is to get rid of the lot of it from the bottom to the top!

SussexSocialist