Gah! I wish people would stop quoting "x tax on y revenue". Tax is paid on profits, not revenue!
I've noticed this approach to reporting corporate tax in a lot of the Left wing press, particularly the Guardian here in the UK. I guess this is because the numbers sound worse.
The unfortunate thing is that it cheapens the argument; because the numbers are not connected the statement becomes irrelevant. This has a knock on effect. I personally stopped purchasing coffee at Starbucks because of the reporting of how much tax they paid, given their revenue AND their 'imaginative' expenses. I'm not going to do the same when the figures aren't comprehensively explained.
Tax is paid on profit, not revenues, correct. However, the whole point is that profit is a lot easier to manipulate downwards in a multi-national than revenue is.
I've noticed this approach to reporting corporate tax in a lot of the Left wing press, particularly the Guardian here in the UK. I guess this is because the numbers sound worse.
The unfortunate thing is that it cheapens the argument; because the numbers are not connected the statement becomes irrelevant. This has a knock on effect. I personally stopped purchasing coffee at Starbucks because of the reporting of how much tax they paid, given their revenue AND their 'imaginative' expenses. I'm not going to do the same when the figures aren't comprehensively explained.