Apple et al and corporation tax

There is a very simple solution to the problem faced by governments trying to collect corporation tax from multinational companies operating on their territories. Replace the current method of calculating corporate tax with a new one. Corporate tax will now be levied as a fixed percentage of all sales/leases etc of goods and services in the country concerned. Then rename the tax to “Permission to Trade in the Market” tax as that, in effect is what corporate tax is.

It works like this : if Apple sell a million iThings in the UK it pays say 2% of of the gross value of all sales to the UK government. If Samsung sell a million sThings in Germany it pays 2% of of the gross value of all sale to the German government. If Huawei lease a million hThings in France it pays 2% of of the gross value of all these lease contracts to the French government.

Easy to calculate and an end to the discussion as to where profits are made.

No doubt this new regime will produce a flock of bleating complaints from the big corporations, but we let them bleat. The big corporations have proven themselves time and time again to be manipulative serial tax avoiders who show no concern for the citizens of the countries they operate in. So why should we cut them any slack now?

Yes, let them bleat, for we need roads, hospitals and schools for our children too.

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