Tax and the EU
Under the utopian dream of a European super state, we are all one country in the EU. As one country it should matter not where you pay tax.
Problem is the media in the UK drives the public into a frenzy saying "OMG, they pay NO tax!", but they do and they pay what's due according to the law in the UK and the EU where the company uses a different EU state to pay the tax.
I am entitled to work where I like within the EU, move where I like, set up business anywhere within the EU and trade within the EU with no barriers. I can pay my taxes within the EU where I like if the law allows also.
Now the taxes differ between states. Well, if people aren't happy, then go ahead and flat rate the taxes across the EU. That's the dream of some anyway, centralised taxation. Great, and good luck seeing that money then be distributed fairly to your individual state rather than being swallowed up in Brussels or bailing out Greece.
Another way of looking at it: you may say it's not fair to pay cheaper taxes in another state within the EU (but perfectly legal), but yet most people would say it's perfectly fair to buy a product from another EU state where it is cheaper (and it's also illegal for anyone to try to block this, i.e. there is no such thing as a grey import within the EU and companies cannot try to control the market in one state by blocking an import from a cheaper EU state. Noting that they can and do however try to block imports external from the EU where they are cheaper).
Oh, and as a side point, there's the rants about companies not paying tax where they have just deferred the tax and paid it later, or may have even paid more tax earlier. So what? They ultimately have paid the tax due.
And as already quoted from Lord Clyde, you should never pay a penny more than is due.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
