Starbucks.

Last month it emerged that Starbucks had paid nothing in UK corporation tax over the previous year, despite making sales worth £398 million here – that's about $597 million. There are other companies here which I don't have to name, but I'm sure you know, who haven't paid their full share of tax either. This is because they have their headquarters in another part of the almighty Common Market, known to the rest of the world as The European Community, where the rate of Corporation Tax is lower than here.

Places like Ireland and Luxembourg.

I know big companies do the same in America; credit card companies tend to be based in Delaware and Starbucks themselves are based in Seattle, Washington; that's Washington State, for my pals over here who don't know, and not the capital Washingon DC.

There are other companies, corporations or just firms who don't pay sales tax in America but collect it and don't give it to the government. They do this because the local government want them in their vicinity because they create jobs which means they pay wages into the community and the people that receive the wages spend in that community and so stimulate the economy.

What usually happens in America is the local government will give the new company a free ride for ten years to give them a chance to build up the business then hope they will start to pay taxes after the ten year period is up and not move away.

Well that is in America and this is Britain; this is another country, unlike America who have different tax laws and rates in different states. In fact they have different laws and, would you believe, I don't think murder is a federal offence and neither is a hate crime. If they were federal offences they would all have the same punishment – such as the death penalty. You will know which states still carry out the death penalty – they're the ones with the most murders!! So where's your argument about a deterrent now??

In Britain, plans are afoot this week to occupy Starbucks coffee shops throughout the high streets of the land.

The idea is that because Starbucks do not pay corporation tax – or very little - they are causing some of the cuts to the economy; the campaign is being led by an activist group called 'UK Uncut' whose activist Sarah Greene said: “It is an outrage that the Government continues to let multinationals like Starbucks dodge millions in tax while vital services like refuges and rape crisis centres face the axe. It does not have to be this way.

"The Government could easily bring in billions that could fund vital services by clamping down on tax dodging, but are instead making cuts that are forcing women to choose between motherhood and work, and trapping them in abusive relationships.”

The UK Uncut group plan to fill the Starbucks shops with women and their children as crèche facilities have been withdrawn through cuts, the homeless, as shelters have been closed due to the cuts and women in need of help who are in battered relationships.

Crèche facilities are usually supervised services and so are the others; are they going to provide the personnel?

This is all because of the cuts the Chancellor of the Exchequer and The Prime Minister have introduced because of the recession/depression and here is a photo of the Prime Minister taken yesterday - 

 

as you can see he is really tightening his belt!! 

Whoops!!

Maybe he needs to tighten more than his belt!!

Let me just say that Starbucks is one of the few places here where you can buy proper filter coffee!! They sell the dreaded Americano too but at least I don't have to drink it!!