Boots - didn’t know this

[Bluebluered]

Boots are registered in the US and they don’t have to share their tax returns. I’ve only just found out and i feel cheated. I’ve always thought of Boots as an old, trustworthy British store with British roots.

Apparently they have been charging the NHS £3000 for a cancer relieving mouthwash which usually sells for £93.

When I first heard JC’s comments about billionaires and sharing wealth, I felt it sounded a bit communist..but I actually agree with him now. It seems it’s another set of rules for rich corporations who can get get richer and richer whilst the poorer people struggle.

Oh my, I didn’t know this either - on reflection I suppose they were on the news as being in trouble a few years ago so presumably got bought out.

I don’t begin to understand the complexities of uk tax laws that seem so massively weighted in favour of the largest companies avoiding paying uk tax. It’s just not fair.

I’m not sure JC will fix it though, I thought he just planned to charge the higher tax band earners more and pull more workers into higher tax band, but leave corporations & businesses to it? Perhaps I misunderstood?

Boots is a classic example of a firm that's bought by investors, stripped of its profits, loaded down with debt, and then left to sink or swim depending on the economy. Sometimes it's OK, sometimes it goes wrong - like it did with BHS...

The rules of commerce and how company finance can be structured - including tax write-offs - need a drastic overhaul.

Labour say you would start getting taxed more at £82K a year, which is equivalent to about £8 a month. Not many people earn £82K. WRT large corporations, I think they have said they will change the system so they cannot get away with not paying tax and hiding how much they do pay. It’s totally unfair what’s happening right now.

I think I believe JC would make a difference.

The whole concept of trickle down economics sounds great, but it doesn't work in reality.

Look at London - lots and lots of empty properties because they are literally being used as savings accounts for the rich, so they don't even live in them! Consequently none of the local businesses can survive, because they don't need butchers and cleaners and curtain makers and cobblers and so on, because there is no local community.

Those that do visit do so on a fleeting basis and bring their own staff with them. They spend money in Harrods and Fortnum & Mason and at luxury goods stores - and whilst this does keep a few people in a job, it's not nearly as meaningful as an actual full time community of people who live, work and shop all year round. Those who only visit on a temporary basis don't care about schools, amenities, fire services and the NHS because they have no need of them - their kids are privately educated, they buy their own services in privately and can afford top quality healthcare in any country of their choosing.

Apparently they have been charging the NHS £3000 for a cancer relieving mouthwash which usually sells for £93

Why arent they Going to the place that charges £93?

@ControversialFerret what a great post, very succinctly put - I shall be quoting you.

Good question Rufus, anyone know?

WRT large corporations, I think they have said they will change the system so they cannot get away with not paying tax and hiding how much they do pay. It’s totally unfair what’s happening right now.

There has been a worldwide initiative re tax avoidance global firms in progress for a few years now. No single country can tackle it - it needs global agreement/action. Progress is being made, but painfully slow as, of course, the tax-haven countries don't want to lose their popularity (some depend on the tax avoidance industry). There's absolutely nothing that JC can do that hasn't already been thought about by a succession of UK chancellors, right back to Gordon Brown, on whose watch the global tax avoidance industry flourished.

Re large multi-nationals, I think we've gone as far as we can at the moment. VAT (a sales tax ) is 20%. Employers NIC (an employment tax) is 13.8%. That means the UK gets a fair slice of money from multi-nationals even if it doesn't get corporation tax on all profits. Amazon, starbucks, etc pay 20% VAT and Eers NIC of 13.8% on their staff's wages . Various VAT law changes have been made to block VAT avoidance schemes (such as firms basing themselves in the channel islands and selling DVDs at £15 VAT free).

How anyone tries to justify Amazon's position by saying "Well they pay something..." is beyond me.

C4 gives a good overview of how Amazon manages to minimise their UK tax liability. It's nothing that cannot be overcome, actually by simplifying the tax system.

www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-why-does-amazon-pay-so-little-tax

charging the NHS £3000 for a cancer relieving mouthwash which usually sells for £93

I'd like to see the fullfact assessment on that one.
I'm also reading that the specials prescription may have applied to precisely 4 bottles purchased over a 4 yr period (1 bottle/year).

I can find several articles about such allegations in May-July 2018, but nothing since. Like... what was the outcome of the Comp & Markets Authority inquiry about this & related complaints? Too boring to be reported?

My experience of NHS is a lot of people are employed to avoid that type of overspending. So would be odd that it got approved.

Amazon etc don't pay any VAT, they merely collect it on behalf of the government, it is the customer who pays it. In return they get to claim back any VAT they have paid.

@NotMaryWhitehouse Thank you

I am no expert by any means. In years gone by I would have described myself as a small 'c' conservative. However I seem to be bucking the usual assumption that states the older you get, the more conservative you become - as I am more left leaning now!

I am no fan of Corbyn, but I can't justify voting for a party that introduced austerity measures which have literally killed people, which penalises people for being poor, which punishes people for being disabled, and which is systematically undermining every single essential structure and service - then wondering why society is falling apart at the seams.

I also cannot justify voting for a party which thinks that benefit fraud is more problematic than tax avoidance. To put some meaning to that statement, in 2016-17:

• The DWP estimated the total benefit fraud figure for 2018-19 was £2.3bn.
• There were 3,809 tax avoidance cases heard, with the total value of lost tax revenue being £37bn. That was just the cases that made it to court.

Sorry, should have said that the tax avoidance cases were from 2016-17 from the excellent Patrick Cannon's blog.

'Specials' and 'special obtains' are special formulations for medicines.

www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/news/boots-and-alliance-respond-claims-specials-price-collusion

The ingredients used to make up the formulation may cost pennies, the eventual prescription costs thousands - it is iniquitous.

@ControversialFerret our council was one of the first to introduce full council tax on empty homes. They were finding that too many wealthy people would buy up a holiday home and just pop down for 1-2 weeks in the summer. This was negatively impacting the area.

By doing this they have made it unattractive for some and made property more accessible to local buyers.

It doesn't work if it's the very wealthy as they are not impacted by an extra bill, but it makes a difference to some who have to find an extra £250-300 a month.

Boots are owned by Walgreens ..Thats US company

I think I believe JC would make a difference

seriously

They were sold to that US company years ago. I used to work in one of their flagship stores.

thecalmorchid

It does help, but not enough. Not nearly enough.