Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
EBay scam?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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This just happened to my husband, bought something on eBay and actually got the parcel from Amazon, who he'd deliberately chosen not to buy from. Needless to say his feedback wasn't very positive,
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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I take your point about eBay - they may well be just as bad, although of course you are buying from an individual seller who uses eBay as their market. It's sometimes possible to buy from sellers on Amazon by tracking down their details and contacting them directly.
Even shopping on the high street it's very hard to know who's paying their taxes and who isn't - Boots the Chemist, who most people think of as quintessentially British, are registered in Switzerland and pay almost no corporation tax here. As long as there are these legal loopholes, it will be the big companies who can move their money around worldwide who benefit, and the smaller businesses who lose.
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Permalink Reply by Mat Day on
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Am I the only one who thinks its pointless to try and boycott companies to punish them? As has been pointed out, the list of tax avoiders is so expansive you just end up hurting yourself as a consumer.And seeing as it won't ultimately achieve the desired goal, isn't there a more effective, less self-harming way to take action?
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Mat: no you're not the only one; and yes, it is comparable to self-harm. It's useless and unnoticed by the giant multi-national corporation. The poor can't afford to make such gestures. It could make a person feel good until they realize the only person they've hurt is themselves. The motive may be sound, but the execution needs a re-think.
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Agreed. The question then is: whats the right action? I mean, when you hear the amounts of money these companies have dodged paying, it is sickening, so I completely appreciate the motive . But if they can avoid paying, they will: its the nature of corporations, and they're all at it. So what can you really do?
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I disagree - if we switch our shopping habits to local shops, they will stay in business, whereas if we all go for the cheapest option, we will soon be left with nowhere to shop but Amazon. I know not everyone can afford to make this choice, but if you can, I think it is worthwhile.
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You will always need big outlets to get certain items though, and thats where you gotta ask yourself whether avoiding them really helps the tax dodging issue. But I agree to get stuff locally where you can of course.
But when Tesco and amazon et al can offer same day delivery on any item (as they will be able to in the near future) its true that, regardless of how individuals choose to buy things, shops as we know them will become largely redundant. So we should probably brace for a future where Amazon (or the wider internet) is the only place you can shop. So our tax system, and our infrastructure in general, needs to catch up pretty quickly I feel.
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Maddy I'm delighted for you that you have the means not to be obliged to go for the cheapest option as others are. However, if you do have the means, it is not remotely worthwhile to boycott a company the size of Amazon.
If all the villagers in a little village boycotted a grocer, it might put Mr & Mrs Blogs out of business next week or next month. If thousands of folk across the nation boycotted Amazon for months ... it just would not register.
But don't let me stop you if it makes you feel better.
Amazon probably aren't paying a fair share of tax. However, that assumption or knowledge may be an assurance for some of their customers, who calculate that that's a good reason (even a kind of warranty) as to why their prices are keen.
The offer by one or two guilt-ridden companies to elect to chip in a bit more tax brings the whole system into disrepute. Rather than little token efforts by individuals to encourage better conduct by multi-nationals, is it not time that the government acted, as Mat suggests?
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Permalink Reply by abstractjuz on
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I agree that buying locally, if you can, when you can is important...
...but I'm not sure that's going to change UK tax law or roll back the internet. Other people have already pointed out cases where a local store has used Amazon as their wholesaler.
Sure - that store might make a small profit but it's not a very effective method of protest.
Out of interest - was there nowhere else you could buy that DVD other than Amazon or eBay?
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Surely you can't blame the companies for seeking to minimise their tax burden where this can be done legally ?
I used to claim tax relief on my mortgage - was that immoral ?
The fault lies with badly-drafted legislation which allows a company based in Luxembourg to trade here yet offset losses abroad against profits in the UK.
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Exactly.
The idea that a for-profit company - or capitalism for that matter - has some obligation to be 'fair' or 'ethical' or act like some benevolent society is unfortunately quite common - but also completely misguided.
Maybe if more people had a better understanding of what capitalism really is then we might not be in such dire economic circumstances.
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