Re: VAT for Dummies
"(b) cook their books such that the company has NO local turnover"
This is precisely what Starbucks do. They operate in such a way that their central 'wholesale' function sells beans and other point of sale guff to its 'retail' franchise network - at a carefully calculated premium which leaves the franchises with very little tangible profit in each of their respective local markets. This allows them to hoover the majority of the actual profit back to their central operation for distribution to shareholders and senior management.
I don't see what sort of legislation would tackle this sort of underhanded behavior, quite frankly.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
