Robin Hood

Individually, we all try to avoid things, especially greeting strangers at family events who insist that they knew you when you were a baby. However, when global corporations avoid tax, it is arguably much more serious. And that, as you are aware, is what has happened. Household favourites such as Messi, Google, Amazon and Starbucks have simply put, avoided paying tax . This has led to a major loss of potential tax revenue in the UK. Amazon had a whopping £3.35bn sales in the UK in 2011 however, reported a mere tax expense £1.8m whilst Starbucks paid absolutely no corporation tax despite having sales of £400m in the UK in 2012.          

Without doubt, if these corporations were to have rightly paid much higher corporation tax, one could strongly argue it would give the UK economy a much needed boost. Currently, the main corporation tax rate as of April is 23%. Using this rate, if for example Starbucks were to have paid the correct corporation tax last year, that would of led to £92m of extra tax revenue alone. This could of been ploughed back into the economy and could have been used for public sectors such as the NHS which desperately require higher funding. We may think it is funny that corporations don't pay their taxes, however it can lead to many problems in our economy which we have to bear. It is no surprise that tax avoidance has contributed to protests in London plus criticism from respected, high profile people such as Ed Miliband and Catholic Bishops.

Next week in Northern Ireland David Cameron's G8 agenda will attempt to put a to stop cross-border tax evasion. A tax deal has already been signed by more than 50 countries, which means they have agreed to exchange tax information to also help achieve this. Actions speak louder than words however, so we should be hoping that Cameron and future governments can finally eradicate tax evasion as it has much more serious consequences than we may believe. Our PM must start taking from the rich so that he can give to the poor.