Tax Dodgers

Campaign group UK Uncut isn't impressed by Starbucks' PR stunt of offering to pay a piddling £20m in UK taxes over the next two years and has taken its protest to Starbucks' froffy coffee shops across the UK (CLICK). Shown is UK Uncut's poster Refuge From The Cuts (2012). Of course Starbucks isn't the only multinational ripping off the British taxpayer (legally). Another campaign group 38 Degrees has published a Guide for spotting big tax dodgers (CLICK). Take for example the old high-street chain Boots. In 2008 it was bought out by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, which moved Boots HQ to Switzerland. The UK tax Boots pays has dropped from 33% to 3%, saving it £150m a year. Amazon, Apple, Boots, Cadbury, Caffe Nero, Ebay, Google, Ikea, Johnnie Walker, Starbucks, TopShop, Vodafone and Zavvi are all named and shamed. If Government is too weak to tackle these "immoral" firms, it's up to the British shopper....