Current Affairs

[Onelife]

Latest Trade deal is with India for £1 billion and 6,000 jobs in the UK

Great news…Liz Truss is doing a fantastic job as UK trade minister.

[barney]

Next time anyone takes the easy option and clicks on to Amazon rather than supporting their local shops, think of this.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... luxembourg

Amazon is not alone in creating complex corporate structures to avoid tax.
The big six US tech firms – Amazon, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft – have been accused of avoiding $100bn of global tax over the past decade, according to a report by the campaign group the Fair Tax Foundation.

And then, to rub salt further in the wound, they shaft independent sellers in favour of their own products.
The truth s out there
https://www.politico.eu/article/amazon- ... any-sales/

[Manoverboard]

Maybe we can reign them in now without having the EU looking over our shoulder for petty taxation rule violations ... hopefully.

[towny44]

Maybe we can reign them in now without having the EU looking over our shoulder for petty taxation rule violations ... hopefully.

Rishi did intimate he would look at taking a unilateral approach if an international deal wasn't struck, but the US took umbrage and said any action we took would jeopardise a trade deal.

[barney]

Maybe we can reign them in now without having the EU looking over our shoulder for petty taxation rule violations ... hopefully.

Rishi did intimate he would look at taking a unilateral approach if an international deal wasn't struck, but the US took umbrage and said any action we took would jeopardise a trade deal.

I believe that Biden is trying to garner international support for a set minimum corporation tax so that it becomes irrelevant where any of these companies are allegedly domiciled.
I know that Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta are dead against it, as are the Caribbean tax havens.

The simple answer is for consumers to use Amazon as little as possible.
Mrs B regularly gets people in the shop that she’s never seen before, asking for prizes for local school raffles etc.
She only supports people who she knows support our town.
Maybe they could contact Amazon and ask them for a raffle prize?

[towny44]

Maybe we can reign them in now without having the EU looking over our shoulder for petty taxation rule violations ... hopefully.

Rishi did intimate he would look at taking a unilateral approach if an international deal wasn't struck, but the US took umbrage and said any action we took would jeopardise a trade deal.

I believe that Biden is trying to garner international support for a set minimum corporation tax so that it becomes irrelevant where any of these companies are allegedly domiciled.
I know that Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta are dead against it, as are the Caribbean tax havens.

The simple answer is for consumers to use Amazon as little as possible.
Mrs B regularly gets people in the shop that she’s never seen before, asking for prizes for local school raffles etc.
She only supports people who she knows support our town.
Maybe they could contact Amazon and ask them for a raffle prize?

Barney, you have to accept that a lot of people buy things purely on price, and as long as the internet offers a better deal then it will thrive.
However we had a pleasant experience with our local furniture store, we are needing a few new bits for our downsize move to an apartment, and I popped into the rabbit warren of a store and was pleasantly surprised that hall sideboard and TV stands looked good value, and they did beds and mattresses as well. So I went back with Mrs Towny and her wheelchair, and they ensured we could have look around the 2 floors served by a lift, and we ended up buying a hall sideboard/wine rack, TV stand and 2 mattresses and headboards.
On checking the items on line I was able to find several offering identical products and in every case the prices quoted were higher than I paid, up to a £100 on the hall sideboard in one instance. So if we need any new furniture in future we know where to look.

[Onelife]

I think it crazy that companies can work within the taxation laws and yet find avoidance loopholes to offset their taxation obligations within these laws.

Not that I know much about how companies get round paying their fair dues, but I surmise millions could be recouped if a more diligent approach was taken, however, I wouldn't be surprised if we/our Government turn a blind eye for the perceived benefits these companies bring with them… employment being one of them.

Magic Mushrooms for tea tonight

[barney]

That’s not unusual John.
Many have got into the habit of buying online for convenience without even looking around.
My older brother who has moved to Appledore is a prime example.
He spends his time on his laptop browsing the net for things he can get cheaper down the road.
Our mantra is- Devon first- West Country second- British third- then the world.
Anything that we can buy locally we do.
We even get Cornish Brie instead of French.

[barney]

I think it crazy that companies can work within the taxation laws and yet find avoidance loopholes to offset their taxation obligations within these laws.

Not that I know much about how companies get round paying their fair dues, but I surmise millions could be recouped if a more diligent approach was taken, however, I wouldn't be surprised if we/our Government turn a blind eye for the perceived benefits these companies bring with them… employment being one of them.

Magic Mushrooms for tea tonight

One of the new potential policies of the ever federal European Union is a policy of equalisation of corporation tax.
Obviously some countries are against it so there’s an internal push to have it implemented via QMV.
Malta, which I know very well is one of the worst.
They attracted the online gambling industry by low taxes and even a maximum that they can pay, despite profits.
Many firms that you may have a bet with are not located in the U.K. for online purposes.

The latest big scandal in Malta ( just the latest) is the sale of Eu passports.
Basically, if anyone wants one and can pay the fees, they got it despite never fulfilling the criteria.
They lost the last PM to a graft scandal and they may possibly lose another.
My brother had a business out there for over twenty years and told us that brown envelopes were the order of the day.

[Onelife]

I think it crazy that companies can work within the taxation laws and yet find avoidance loopholes to offset their taxation obligations within these laws.

Not that I know much about how companies get round paying their fair dues, but I surmise millions could be recouped if a more diligent approach was taken, however, I wouldn't be surprised if we/our Government turn a blind eye for the perceived benefits these companies bring with them… employment being one of them.

Magic Mushrooms for tea tonight

One of the new potential policies of the ever federal European Union is a policy of equalisation of corporation tax.
Obviously some countries are against it so there’s an internal push to have it implemented via QMV.
Malta, which I know very well is one of the worst.
They attracted the online gambling industry by low taxes and even a maximum that they can pay, despite profits.
Many firms that you may have a bet with are not located in the U.K. for online purposes.

The latest big scandal in Malta ( just the latest) is the sale of Eu passports.
Basically, if anyone wants one and can pay the fees, they got it despite never fulfilling the criteria.
They lost the last PM to a graft scandal and they may possibly lose another.
My brother had a business out there for over twenty years and told us that brown envelopes were the order of the day.

I was aware of that Barney…in fact its where most of my pocket money ends up.

So, if QMV was introduced but the likes of Malta didn’t want to go along with it what can be done about compliance…presumably sanctions?

[barney]

Qualified Majority Voting means that it would apply to all member states.
No opt outs.
Having said that, a lot can change very quickly.
Germany is changing and with France, you never know.
Le Pen is not as keen as Macron on the Eu.

[Mervyn and Trish]

The simple answer is for consumers to use Amazon as little as possible.

I'm with you where possible Barney.

We've used Amazon, and other on line suppliers, much more than usual during lockdown simply because other options weren't available and it was a safe way of getting stuff.

Normally we buy in local shops where we can and prefer local businesses to national chains. We'll even pay a little extra on occasions.

But sometimes there's stuff we can't get locally. I bought guitar strings this week.

And sometimes the price difference is silly. My daughter, who is on limited income, needed a new fridge freezer when hers died. For the same model, delivered and the old one taken away for recycling, a very good local business wanted £40 more than Argos. And they only had to deliver it 1 mile whereas Argos came from goodness knows where. And Argos could deliver today. The local supplier couldn't even give us a date.

[Kendhni]

During lockdown I have replaced my entire home office (the only things that survived the shuffle was my printer, speaker system and USB hub). All electronics, cabling and chairs were purchased online and delivered - local electronic stores either had a leg out of bed as far as price was concerned, had unworkable lead times or quite simply did not have anything that suited my needs. I went online for the desks and other furniture but was told by several possible suppliers there was an issue with getting stock through the ports and therefore no delivery date could be given - I phoned around and managed to find a business in ROI that could not only deliver the next day but would assemble them for me in my house - in that instance I felt the extra £100 over online was well worth paying (especially since their credit card system was down so they wanted COD).

I have no loyalty to the high street or "made in UK", if they can compete in price, quality and service then I will use them if not then I have no issues of going with whoever offers me the service that suits me best. In fact I have only visited local shopping centres once since this pandemic started - I have found I don't need physical stores and can do everything online.

As far as tax is concerned I have always believed it is every citizen's right, if not duty, to avoid as much tax as possible through legal means. Any sensible person will be doing this either using simple products such as ISAs and pensions, or through wealth distribution, dividends and other "not illegal" means. Thousands of small businesses and sole traders evade tax on a daily basis, which probably amounts to similar loss of revenue as someone like Amazon (I have been hearing the same complaints about large business and small businesses for over 40 years). The onus is on the government to tighten up ALL tax laws removing the 'loopholes' that both the big corporations and the little guys exploit.

[barney]

During lockdown I have replaced my entire home office (the only things that survived the shuffle was my printer, speaker system and USB hub). All electronics, cabling and chairs were purchased online and delivered - local electronic stores either had a leg out of bed as far as price was concerned, had unworkable lead times or quite simply did not have anything that suited my needs. I went online for the desks and other furniture but was told by several possible suppliers there was an issue with getting stock through the ports and therefore no delivery date could be given - I phoned around and managed to find a business in ROI that could not only deliver the next day but would assemble them for me in my house - in that instance I felt the extra £100 over online was well worth paying (especially since their credit card system was down so they wanted COD).

I have no loyalty to the high street or "made in UK", if they can compete in price, quality and service then I will use them if not then I have no issues of going with whoever offers me the service that suits me best. In fact I have only visited local shopping centres once since this pandemic started - I have found I don't need physical stores and can do everything online.

As far as tax is concerned I have always believed it is every citizen's right, if not duty, to avoid as much tax as possible through legal means. Any sensible person will be doing this either using simple products such as ISAs and pensions, or through wealth distribution, dividends and other "not illegal" means. Thousands of small businesses and sole traders evade tax on a daily basis, which probably amounts to similar loss of revenue as someone like Amazon (I have been hearing the same complaints about large business and small businesses for over 40 years). The onus is on the government to tighten up ALL tax laws removing the 'loopholes' that both the big corporations and the little guys exploit.

As expected !

As usual, out of step.

[Kendhni]

During lockdown I have replaced my entire home office (the only things that survived the shuffle was my printer, speaker system and USB hub). All electronics, cabling and chairs were purchased online and delivered - local electronic stores either had a leg out of bed as far as price was concerned, had unworkable lead times or quite simply did not have anything that suited my needs. I went online for the desks and other furniture but was told by several possible suppliers there was an issue with getting stock through the ports and therefore no delivery date could be given - I phoned around and managed to find a business in ROI that could not only deliver the next day but would assemble them for me in my house - in that instance I felt the extra £100 over online was well worth paying (especially since their credit card system was down so they wanted COD).

I have no loyalty to the high street or "made in UK", if they can compete in price, quality and service then I will use them if not then I have no issues of going with whoever offers me the service that suits me best. In fact I have only visited local shopping centres once since this pandemic started - I have found I don't need physical stores and can do everything online.

As far as tax is concerned I have always believed it is every citizen's right, if not duty, to avoid as much tax as possible through legal means. Any sensible person will be doing this either using simple products such as ISAs and pensions, or through wealth distribution, dividends and other "not illegal" means. Thousands of small businesses and sole traders evade tax on a daily basis, which probably amounts to similar loss of revenue as someone like Amazon (I have been hearing the same complaints about large business and small businesses for over 40 years). The onus is on the government to tighten up ALL tax laws removing the 'loopholes' that both the big corporations and the little guys exploit.

As expected !

As usual, out of step.

Is it really me out of step? Or is your vested interest clouding your vision and meaning you are living in the last century - there is always someone that thinks we should have continued to use horses for transport. We are in the 21st century and it is time for 21st century thinking. The next generation, not old die-hards stuck in the yester-years, will determine the shape of the future - and rightly so!

I might also suggest you try reading and comprehending my post before answering. Maybe explain which bits you disagree with - it makes for a more adult conversation

[barney]

During lockdown I have replaced my entire home office (the only things that survived the shuffle was my printer, speaker system and USB hub). All electronics, cabling and chairs were purchased online and delivered - local electronic stores either had a leg out of bed as far as price was concerned, had unworkable lead times or quite simply did not have anything that suited my needs. I went online for the desks and other furniture but was told by several possible suppliers there was an issue with getting stock through the ports and therefore no delivery date could be given - I phoned around and managed to find a business in ROI that could not only deliver the next day but would assemble them for me in my house - in that instance I felt the extra £100 over online was well worth paying (especially since their credit card system was down so they wanted COD).

I have no loyalty to the high street or "made in UK", if they can compete in price, quality and service then I will use them if not then I have no issues of going with whoever offers me the service that suits me best. In fact I have only visited local shopping centres once since this pandemic started - I have found I don't need physical stores and can do everything online.

As far as tax is concerned I have always believed it is every citizen's right, if not duty, to avoid as much tax as possible through legal means. Any sensible person will be doing this either using simple products such as ISAs and pensions, or through wealth distribution, dividends and other "not illegal" means. Thousands of small businesses and sole traders evade tax on a daily basis, which probably amounts to similar loss of revenue as someone like Amazon (I have been hearing the same complaints about large business and small businesses for over 40 years). The onus is on the government to tighten up ALL tax laws removing the 'loopholes' that both the big corporations and the little guys exploit.

As expected !

As usual, out of step.

Is it really me out of step? Or is your vested interest clouding your vision and meaning you are living in the last century - there is always someone that thinks we should have continued to use horses for transport. We are in the 21st century and it is time for 21st century thinking. The next generation, not old die-hards stuck in the yester-years, will determine the shape of the future - and rightly so!

I might also suggest you try reading and comprehending my post before answering. Maybe explain which bits you disagree with - it makes for a more adult conversation

I have no interest in having a conversation with you.
Thanks anyway.

[screwy]

Who wants to be a millionaire, a teacher doesn’t know how many inches in a metre.!
No wonder they vote Labour.! Probably.

Getting my hat.

[Kendhni]

As expected !

As usual, out of step.

Is it really me out of step? Or is your vested interest clouding your vision and meaning you are living in the last century - there is always someone that thinks we should have continued to use horses for transport. We are in the 21st century and it is time for 21st century thinking. The next generation, not old die-hards stuck in the yester-years, will determine the shape of the future - and rightly so!

I might also suggest you try reading and comprehending my post before answering. Maybe explain which bits you disagree with - it makes for a more adult conversation

I have no interest in having a conversation with you.
Thanks anyway.

No loss. You were the one that originally replied to my post.

[Ranchi]

“Teacher doesn’t know how many inches in a metre” made me smile.
First thought was- why should they? I’m a big believer in work in the units of your measuring instrument.
Thirty-nine & a bit I guess.
We have a kitchen scales which has a switch to change g/oz/ml ( not sure about the last one but assume it’s just for water), my wife insists on converting all measurements from metric recipes into lbs & ozs before she starts baking.
I suppose the key thing is not to mix units during a recipe.
I recall that as a GCE pupil in the early’70s our class were told that we should all use dm3 (decimetre cubed) and cm3 rather than litre and ml as that was the future. Fifty odd years on, I retired and ml & litres are still going strong.
I guess that demonstrates the fickle nature of unit use.
The old school jotters with the units on the back were always fascinating; poles, perches, pecks, chains, furlongs etc.
Hectares…haven’t a clue…but I do remember the old cartoon dog climbing his ladder and lamenting that he wasn’t a metric Hector.
Will be be buying fruit & sweeties by the pound and quarter in the future?

[towny44]

Is it really me out of step? Or is your vested interest clouding your vision and meaning you are living in the last century - there is always someone that thinks we should have continued to use horses for transport. We are in the 21st century and it is time for 21st century thinking. The next generation, not old die-hards stuck in the yester-years, will determine the shape of the future - and rightly so!

I might also suggest you try reading and comprehending my post before answering. Maybe explain which bits you disagree with - it makes for a more adult conversation

I have no interest in having a conversation with you.
Thanks anyway.

No loss. You were the one that originally replied to my post.

Ken, I would just like to add my saner and more measured view of modern shopping. The internet has opened up a wide range of companies wanting to take advantage of this new form of selling, some are good some are bad, but the buyers needs to exercise caution before parting with their money.
As for minimising our individual tax charge, I agree with you, and since retirement we have done exactly that by ensuring that none ISA savings were in Pauline's name, as she is is a non taxpayer, although these are being transferred into stocks and shares ISA's now that interest rates are so poor. However I don't really see much comparisons with how the the internet giants like Amazon manipulate the tax laws to reduce their tax liability.
And as I proved in post 10156, you can still find local shops that offer very competitive pricing, as well as the physical presence and face to face discussion, so the high street, or in my case an edge of town old mill building is not necessarily dead, although I imagine to achieve their low prices the wood furniture was probably imported, but the mattresses were locally manufactured in the UK.
Let us hope that the UK can manage to preserve the current diversity of choice that we now enjoy, and that the Covid nightmare does not herald the end of local stores.
The above experience has made me reassess my online spending, and I will be widening the range of possible shopping opportunities to ensure I am truly getting the best deal.

[Kendhni]

I have no interest in having a conversation with you.
Thanks anyway.

No loss. You were the one that originally replied to my post.

Ken, I would just like to add my saner and more measured view of modern shopping. The internet has opened up a wide range of companies wanting to take advantage of this new form of selling, some are good some are bad, but the buyers needs to exercise caution before parting with their money.
As for minimising our individual tax charge, I agree with you, and since retirement we have done exactly that by ensuring that none ISA savings were in Pauline's name, as she is is a non taxpayer, although these are being transferred into stocks and shares ISA's now that interest rates are so poor. However I don't really see much comparisons with how the the internet giants like Amazon manipulate the tax laws to reduce their tax liability.
And as I proved in post 10156, you can still find local shops that offer very competitive pricing, as well as the physical presence and face to face discussion, so the high street, or in my case an edge of town old mill building is not necessarily dead, although I imagine to achieve their low prices the wood furniture was probably imported, but the mattresses were locally manufactured in the UK.
Let us hope that the UK can manage to preserve the current diversity of choice that we now enjoy, and that the Covid nightmare does not herald the end of local stores.
The above experience has made me reassess my online spending, and I will be widening the range of possible shopping opportunities to ensure I am truly getting the best deal.

Just checked for pink elephants fluttering past the window and there are none, I agree with most of your post (I must be getting soft in my old age).

There is good and bad in both online and local shopping, however if someone is going to charge me 10-20% more then they are not going to get my trade unless they have some other USP. The future of the high street is a decision that will not be made by you or me, it will be the next generation that will determine it - our generation started the demise as we moved from High Street to shopping centres and then into online, the next generation will probably move even more towards online. However, like cinemas, I suspect there may well be the occasional resurgence but there are a lot of factors that will play into that - rental prices, age demographic and, most importantly, price competitiveness.

The one thing I would disagree with you on is that I think it is fair to compare individual avoidance (of tens of thousands of people and small companies) of tax versus a small number of large corporations - 1,000,000 x £1 is the same as 1 x £1,000,000. A friend of mine is forever going on about the likes of Amazon, but I usually point out to him he has spent much of his working life doing cash-in-hand jobs (to "avoid the tax man"). Amazon is not breaking the law, he was.

Not so much now, but occasionally tradesmen still offer a cheaper price for cash - in the past I will admit that I did some jobs for a few quid in the back pocket. I know of many instances were items have been bought for personal use but actually purchased through a company for tax purposes; people 'employing' family members on annual salaries to lick a stamp once a month. It is well known that if HMRC made rightful claims against football clubs then it would wipe out half of the leagues.

There will always be both legal and illegal tax loopholes - but I always found it interesting that no government (of any flavour) has been willing to close many of the known tax evasion loopholes - they probably don't want to upset their donors.

[Kendhni]

Last weekend we bought a new battery operated vacuum cleaner. The brand itself advertises it's British heritage going back to 1870's; the box it arrived in had a union jack on it and mentions of Britishness in large letters. In very small writing, on the bottom of the box and on the actual product it said 'Made in China'. It appears that nothing was made in the UK - possibly the box but even then there is no evidence of that. Shame!

[Manoverboard]

Apart from a local-ish farm shop everything we have purchased during the past 15 months has been from Amazon & Sainsbugs etc but only online. In normal times it costs us at least 5 litres of petrol plus another fiver for parking to get to a sizeable-ish shop to establish that they haven't got what we want although we could order it and go a second time.

There are however ' Country Stores ' in Darzet who are as old fashioned as it gets but they have the sense to offer online purchases, those that do not will go tits up and there is nothing I intend to do about that.

[Ray B]

Last weekend we bought a new battery operated vacuum cleaner. The brand itself advertises it's British heritage going back to 1870's; the box it arrived in had a union jack on it and mentions of Britishness in large letters. In very small writing, on the bottom of the box and on the actual product it said 'Made in China'. It appears that nothing was made in the UK - possibly the box but even then there is no evidence of that. Shame!

Loopholes to mislead. It's all wrong.

[Onelife]

With regard to the death of the high street I see things going in a different direction to what many think it will go (btw the Magic mushrooms were lovely last night)

I have expressed various opinions as to what will happen to the high-street especially as online shopping is now part of everyday life….so here’s another one…I think online shopping and Covid will ultimately be the saviour of the High street.

With many of the bigger High street retailers closing down and the likelihood that out-of-town retail parks will also succumb to online shopping there is to my mind a very lucrative gap in the high-street for small independents to find various retail niches.

With a little help from the government/local councils I think there still could be a pleasant shopping experience to be found in the high street.