Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt Takes a Cabal of Willing Governments to Maintain Global Tax Havens
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/12/04-0Multinationals happily extract profits from countries and then team up with tax havens to avoid paying their share of taxes that make the countries profitable for them in the first place. (Image: /TheRules.org)
Everyone loves to hate a thief. And quite right, too. Google, Amazon and Starbucks and many more like them are certainly stealing from the UK and other countries by playing tax systems so aggressively.
But theres a more important story here that the British MPs and world media are largely missing. In fact, the only ones who havent missed it are Google themselves. Matt Brittin, Googles UK Chief, hit a very important nail on the head when he said, to Channel 4 News this week, [Google] plays by the rules set by politicians.
Leaving aside his motivation to shift the blame, the man is not wrong. The rules of the international tax system do not just let this happen, they actively encourage it.
Tax theft is endemic all over the world. It is organised through an intricate system of tax havens; the PR around it is astonishingly good, as evidenced by the fact that most people have no idea of its scale and can get distracted by the misdeeds of a few bad apples rather than seeing the barrel they came in; and one of the most vibrant and important hubs the City of London - is sitting right under the noses of the British politicians who are today decrying the corporations who use it.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 700 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (1)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
It Takes a Cabal of Willing Governments to Maintain Global Tax Havens (Original Post)
xchrom
Dec 2012
OP
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)2. True, Sir
Governments allow this, and could stop it readily.