Jonbouy
750 outlets in the UK and they make £0 profit here?
At least that's what they tell the tax man in order not to pay a penny in corporation tax.
These people more than the unfortunates that often get the finger pointed at them for not contributing are the true leeches on society.
Oh, and now they've suddenly found a £10m contribution following a public outcry.
We're all being told to tighten our individual belts while multi-national corporates go around exploiting what little is left and answer to nobody but themselves with a little creative accounting.
I get a bitter after taste from that stuff, not for me thanks.
Don't even like coffee personally, so I fail to see what all the fuss is about with various brands - it's all wasted on me.
The way I see the tax issue is that it's the system that is wrong not the companies that play them. There's an awful lot of hypocrisy on this matter - it seems that people think it's perfectly reasonable for Joe Bloggs, the self-employed decorator to employ an accountant to mimimise his exposure to tax, but not ok when big companies do it . Who has honestly never looked at their tax bill or PAYE deductions if you are an employee and resented them ? Certain famous individuals were recently pilloried in the UK for participating in a perfectly legal tax avoidance scheme which resulted in them paying something like 1%. What wasn't mentioned at all was that it was 1% of several millions, which is still far more than the majority of the complainers will have paid. What they/their accountants did is allowed according to the law. Simples.
I don't really see how Starbucks are "leeching" either. They may be using legal loopholes to avoid paying corporation tax, but they are still employing people and contributing to the tax/NI system that way. I don't know how many staff 750 outlets equates to, but it will be a significant number of people who may otherwise be claiming benefits.