
Nick Abbot 10pm - 1am
24 January 2025, 12:36
The US pulling out of the global minimum corporate tax rate is a hugely disappointing backwards move.
I applauded when the G7 agreed this back in 2021, and every step of the long road that saw more than 130 countries sign up to it. It was a massive victory towards a fairer global tax system.
It’s completely immoral and unfair that large multinationals are able to avoid paying tax in the countries where they sell their products and instead hide those profits in low-tax or tax-free havens.
The whole of society suffers when the biggest players don’t pay their fair share, thus depriving governments of the resources they need to fund essential public services.
Should some of the poorest people in the world be robbed of food, healthcare or education simply to inflate the P&L of a handful of the wealthiest companies in human history?
The rate agreed, and due to come into effect this month, was only 15% so hardly excessive and already well below the global corporation tax average of 23.5% (and the current UK rate of 25%).
Is it really OK that the likes of Google, Amazon and Starbucks continue to pay less than 15% tax on what they earn in the UK?
And, apart from how society is impacted, how is that fair to domestic competitors?
John Caudwell is a Business leader, philanthropist and the founder of Phones 4U.
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John Caudwell is a Business leader, philanthropist and the founder of Phones 4U.
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