<story><title>Starbucks, Google and Amazon: the tax crash of Monday afternoon</title><url>http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2012/11/13/starbucks-google-and-amazon-the-tax-crash-of-monday-afternoon/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>jacques_chester</author><text>&lt;i&gt;&quot;No man in the country is under the smallest obligation, moral or other, so to arrange his legal relations to his business or property as to enable the Inland Revenue to put the largest possible shovel in his stores. The Inland Revenue is not slow, and quite rightly, to take every advantage which is open to it under the Taxing Statutes for the purposes of depleting the taxpayer&apos;s pocket. And the taxpayer is in like manner entitled to be astute to prevent, so far as he honestly can, the depletion of his means by the Inland Revenue&quot;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ayrshire Pullman Motor Services v Inland Revenue [1929] 141 Tax Case 754.&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&quot;Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one&apos;s taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.&quot;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gregory v. Helvering 69 F.2d 809, 810 (2d Cir. 1934), aff&apos;d, 293 U.S. 465, 55 S.Ct. 266, 79 L.Ed. 596 (1935)</text></comment>
<story><title>Starbucks, Google and Amazon: the tax crash of Monday afternoon</title><url>http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2012/11/13/starbucks-google-and-amazon-the-tax-crash-of-monday-afternoon/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>bobsy</author><text>I am angry with Amazon and Starbucks. I feel both of these have a large presence in the UK. They employ thousands of people. Amazon has done a large amount of damage to the UK high street. Starbucks has pushed out a number of independent coffee shops. The fact they are paying almost zero tax while being here I find abhorrent.&lt;p&gt;I want Amazon and Starbucks here. However I feel both are taking the piss when it comes to taxes. Amazon say they run a distribution network or something and so only have to pay minimal taxes. I feel the fact that these companies failed to justify why they pay the tax they do prove that they are doing something wrong - even if its not illegal.&lt;p&gt;As for Google I feel it is less of a problem. They mainly deal in digital goods. They don&apos;t have a big presence in the UK. They just offer their online service&apos;s here. As most of the tech work is done in the US or Ireland I don&apos;t think they have much to justify with their tax situation. I work for a website-as-a-service company and we have thousands of clients scattered around the world. Around 500 are based in the UK. I don&apos;t really see how we could accurately be charged tax based on geographical location of Sales.</text></comment>