Meanwhile it seems Occupy
Meanwhile it seems Occupy Norwich has evolved into the militant wing of the inland revenue
Occupy Norwich wrote:
Dear Friends and Activists alike,At 1 o’clock on Saturday 24th March there will be a rally outside Topshop/man to raise awareness of tax havens and the damage they do to our economy. We will be highlighting Philip Greens Tax negligence as an example of what thousands of other companies are getting away with every year. Tax dodging is standard practice for many multinationals and it’s perfectly legal. In fact 98 of the FTSE 100 companies use tax havens to minimise their taxes. But when companies exploit international loopholes in these ways, we end up paying the price. Figures produced for PCS by the Tax Justice Network show that £25 billion is lost annually in tax avoidance and a further £70 billion in tax evasion by large companies and wealthy individuals. This money could be used to help relieve some of the strain that the relentless government spending cuts are putting on the whole country, but instead it is pocketed by a handful of ultra-rich individuals. Philip Green is one of these individuals. Green is CEO of ‘The Arcadia Group’ which includes Topshop and Topman, BHS, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, and Wallis. Although through this he has a personal income of around £1.2bn a year, the entire group is in his wife’s name. As she is a resident of Monaco (a tax haven) they enjoy a 0% income tax rate on this enormous sum. As a result of this, Green legally avoids paying a UK tax of approximately £285m. This is equivalent to 9000 NHS nurses annual salaries or 32,000 annual student fees that he is hoarding for himself rather than giving back to the people who buy his products and the country he lives in.This is just one example of what hundreds of companies are getting away with, but there is a solution. Taxation must be changed to a system that demands more transparency from these large multinationals so that it is clear how much money they are making, and in which countries this money is being made. These figures could then be taxed according to the laws of the individual countries where the profits were made. This would lead to a fairer business world and less abuse of developing nations. I’m sure you agree that Tax havens are a blinding statement of todays culture of corrupt capitalism. A clear disregard is shown for the welfare and quality of life of many in exchange for extreme wealth for a few individuals. I will see you on Hay HillFrom Occupy Norwich Direct Action