The UK is hitting back at the corporate giants and skilful individuals who hide all of their money across the globe and don’t pay the tax they are due. Ever wondered why tax is so costly to the average tax abiding citizen…that’s why!
The government has launched a brand new advertising campaign to highlight the issues we have with corporations earning money in the UK market and then dumping their profit in another country where it cannot be traced and therefore not paying their tax. Councillor George Osborne is hoping to demonstrate the government’s new attitude towards these types of companies and individuals, and the message is clear…”we are coming after (you)”.
The Labour party have already criticised the move and other opponents say that we should be focusing on changing the laws that are currently allowing large corporate companies like Starbucks pay very little in the way of taxation through loopholes in our current legal standing. The difficulty with tackling those problems in the immediate is that these laws have been in place for a lot longer than the current administration and we need results now.
The government is desperate for a win, that much is obvious. We as a country could do with one as well if we are honest. Times have been tough as of late and I imagine most people are simply fed up with it. In November 2012 The Telegraph reported the figure was around £11bn. I’m sure Mr Osborne wouldn’t say no to having a sum like that back in the UK budget.
This all comes following a recent trip to Australia where the G20 delegates met and Mr Osborne said there has been some real breakthroughs with other countries willing to support one another in this effort, which will no doubt affect the global population as the same people move money all over the planet.
A question that springs to my mind while reading all of this is actually how much money is the UK government owed from other areas? I was speaking with my Dad a couple of months ago and he spoke very briefly about the amount of council tax owed to our local council, the figure off the top of my head I cannot recall but it was certainly enough to give every person in Bristol a year off of worry.
But that’s the issue isn’t it. We all get into bad situations where our money coming in suddenly doesn’t quite cover the money going out. I’ve been there, a lot! Whether or not you’re going to pay boils down to simple psychology. I know that I will pay all that I owe because it is the right thing to do and the circumstances I came into were all of my own doing. Most people are like that, if they could pay their debts they would in a heart beat, simply for the piece of mind it would bring.
The debtors know this and put the pressure on these good people that really want to pay, but can’t, until they finally find a way through. On the other hand, all of this owed money has to have come from somewhere – people with a different mind set of simply “I’m not paying that”. So on a national level all the corporations not paying tax means that the individuals that work hard and earn a decent living wage are taxed large amounts, and on a local scale we are all paying our local council tax for living here; but those that believe themselves to be above it all force the prices up high to cover them.
Something you will hear from me time and time again: when will we learn to support one another instead of making everything ‘someone else’s job’? If the answer is “never” then we are doomed to continue to place ourselves in these horrid times. We all need a bit of help to get us through and I believe there are people in the government that want to help. But if we don’t start getting a little tougher and a little more vocal and get back what we are owed then it’s the average UK citizen that is going to foot the bill once more.