Things heat up with Google, Starbucks and Amazon
Small businesses are lining up to criticise corporations such as Google, Starbucks and Amazon over their tax arrangements. Executives from all three giants have faced an interrogation by the Public Accounts Committee at the Houses of Parliament.
Companies such as Starbucks say that their operations in the UK are largely unprofitable, but according to some reports, the information that shareholders in the chain have received says differently.
One cafe in London, which pays a drastically higher level of tax than Starbucks, had a sign outside of their building saying: ‘We pay our taxes and still make better coffee than Starbucks.’
John Lewis, the well-established retailer in the UK, has also said that the tax evasion tactics of companies such as Amazon has a massive impact on their profitability, and has the potential to threaten them in the long-term. Whether the government will take heed of this and help by tightening regulation is yet to be seen.
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