To be fair, if I walk down the high street I see lots of chain stores that have put independent stores out of business.
Next, JJB, Sports Direct, Costa, Starbucks, W H Smiths, HMV(just), McColls, Carphone Warehouse, Greggs, Waterstones, Accessorize, Apple Store, Argos, Bhs, Boots, Debenhams, the list goes on and on...
Actually, they all pay rubbish wages do they not?
[quote=piemonster ]To be fair, if I walk down the high street I see lots of chain stores that have put independent stores out of business.
Next, JJB, Sports Direct, Costa, Starbucks, W H Smiths, HMV(just), McColls, Carphone Warehouse, Greggs, Waterstones, Accessorize, Apple Store, Argos, Bhs, Boots, Debenhams, the list goes on and on...
Actually, they all pay rubbish wages do they not?
And probably all pay accountants to minimise their tax.
Great, so these lovely companies avoid their tax. The government still needs money to pay for stuff, including tax credits to subsidise those companies as they pay low wages.
So they increase tax on everyone else to make up for it. You get a slightly cheaper book but higher taxes.
I think the US has a law which demands taxes from companies based upon the trade in the US. We should do something similar.
Amazon made a global net loss last year so you wouldn't expect much of a tax bill.
[quote=AdamW ]
I think the US has a law which demands taxes from companies based upon the trade in the US. We should do something similar.
I think (some) Corporation Tax is based on turnover rather than profit. I can see how that might work but also why it would introduce other problems.
Not all companies chose to use dubious tax avoidance schemes.
Tax paid on UK profits:
Lush 42%
John Lewis 35%
Marks and Spencer 27%
Next 26%
Debenhams 22%
Apple, Amazon, Google, eBay and Facebook paid [b]less than 1%[/b]
"Lush co-founder and managing director Mark Constantine accuses Amazon of operating a legal but "basically corrupt business model" and reveals how top business people, like himself, are repeatedly touted complex schemes to skirt taxes, such as running profits through Ireland or Luxembourg. "I could spend all day in meetings with accountants and tax experts who show you how you can pay less. In one year, one of our competitors paid just 2%. But it just doesn't feel right."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/dec/07/shop-ensure-your-cash-isnt-tax-haven
the irony of the OP !! 😀If I stopped shopping at Amazon my postie would be out of a job.
TBF there is nothing wrong with a business wanting to be efficient, a pension sounds like more security than alot of people get in jobs.
Nothing wrong with expecting your employees to work during their shift either! Should also counterbalance a huge Greggs nearby .. win win for the community 😉
if we are on boycotts I hope any bike shop ending in .de is on the list as they pay no tax in the UK and don't employ anyone in the UK despite putting their virtual shop fronts into peoples homes....
I think (some) Corporation Tax is based on turnover rather than profit. I can see how that might work but also why it would introduce other problems.
They have AMT which is based on income/profit with less deductions not turnover. A turnover tax would be moronic.
Surely the jobs they have created is better than nothing and because they measure productivity so thoroughly it becomes stressful is only what every business aspires to (and be sustainable in this economic black hole we are in)
As for the workers ,times are a changing and we need to move with it - otherwise the immigrants will gladly take the jobs and then in thirty years their children will be your doctors/lawyers and suchlike err haven't we been here before ??
Don't forget those who have children will get family tax credit /help with housing benefit etc etc etc so the wages will be crap but the add ons/benefits make a decent take home pay, much better than I struggled with in the early 90s with NO help and two kids.
A bit OT but I was talking to a girl in my shop the other day and she was telling me how she now gets about £1400 per month for having a part time job and benefits for two kids ,not bad eh for 16 hours single mum BTW but I bet some of you who earn around 20-25k a year are spitting out your coffee at that because you get bugger all help and bring home about the same for 40+ hours a week.
She was as happy as a pig in sh*t and not a care in the world- no ****in wonder!!
joeydeacon - Member
Not defending Amazon, but their website also helps smaller businesses by enabling them to trade on there. No idea how badly they sting them for fees etc though.POSTED 14 HOURS AGO #
A colleague of mine runs the website for his wife's online business. Nice little niche business selling rainwear, wellies etc for kids. Business was doing ok so they decided to go with amazon market place and business grew, then suddenly overnight business from amazon dried up. You guessed it, amazon started selling the same items direct, for less.
And that's why amazon should be avoided.
I'd rather work in an Amazon warehouse than down a mine.
Effectively it is like a mine - they're taking everybody's resources, applying a markup and pumping it into our homes on waggons. I expect about the same number of people work in that warehouse as you would have at a similar sized mine, about 6.
I reckon it's more enviromentally sound to burn my second hand books than try and sell them through Amazon. Ideologically I'm not so sure.
Hmmm, forgot my Dads birthday is tomorrow.
500 miles from here so can't drop something off tomorrow.
Ummmmmmm
A turnover tax would be moronic.
VAT? about as close as you can get, and it's a pretty meaty percentage on most items.
Was just about to order something from amazon, which is listed as €259. Everywhere else online seems to have it at €299 plus shipping. Which of those shall I use? 😉 Gave up trying to find a high street store that sells it.
Amazon order going in tonight.
A bit OT but I was talking to a girl in my shop the other day and she was telling me how she now gets about £1400 per month for having a part time job and benefits for two kids ,not bad eh for 16 hours single mum BTW but I bet some of you who earn around 20-25k a year are spitting out your coffee at that because you get bugger all help and bring home about the same for 40+ hours a week.
She was as happy as a pig in sh*t and not a care in the world- no **** wonder!!
You have to ask who the idiot is?.......by the sounds of it, me
[i]Hmmm, forgot my Dads birthday is tomorrow.[/i]
Hmmm, if I were your dad, and I'm probabably far too old, I'd rather you turned up with some beer when you were able.
[quote=mefty ]
They have AMT which is based on income/profit with less deductions not turnover. A turnover tax would be moronic.
Ta. I knew it was something like that!
I got as far as [i]"...a space the size of nine football pitches..."[/i] in the second paragraph before my policy of not reading dumbed down news stories kicked in.
Apart from stuff from the pet shop, butchers, Coop, grocers, pharmacy or Tesco's or B&Q, I genuinely can't think of the last time I went out to a shop to buy something.
My local high street is aimed at tourists (apart from the shops noted above)
The next nearest high street is a thourougly depressing place to be with poorly stocked shops, sullen staff and locals desperate to be on Jeremy Kyle. I can only go there at the weekend and tbh I have better things to do.
I can order online (inc from Amazon), save money, get the items quicker and not deal with people. Perfect!
I have no loyalty to a high street, I just regard the market as changing to modern demand.
Hmmm, if I were your dad, and I'm probabably far too old, I'd rather you turned up with some beer when you were able.
Did you not read that he lives 500 miles away......
I'm an accountant and in my last role I worked with a lot of small retailers and was involved in a lot of tax investigations. If you think that the big boys are the only tax avoiders you'd be very, very wrong. If you pay cash to a small retailer there's a better than 25% chance that it goes straight into the retailers pocket - avoiding 20% VAT and at least 20% tax. There are many reasons to use the High Street and local traders but the tax evasion position isn't one of them, IMO.
I think Amazon is great.
If your unhappy about the minimum wage you need to think of the cause. We all want stuff for less, thats what drives prices down.
Your only option if you really want to do something is to tip the staff. But then of course you would have to make sure they paid tax on that tip.
Apart from stuff from the pet shop, butchers, Coop, grocers, pharmacy or Tesco's or B&Q, I genuinely can't think of the last time I went out to a shop to buy something.
Same here. Except I don't use the pet shop, butchers, Coop, grocers, pharmacy or Tesco's or B&Q. The local builders merchant is as close as I get and I use their website to make the order and they deliver by lorry (no online payment unfortunately).
I spent 4 years walking around an amazon warehouse.i wasn't lost tho I was working 🙂
Hmmm, if I were your dad, and I'm probabably far too old, I'd rather you turned up with some beer when you were able.
He's due up here next month, I'll get some beer in then.
He'll need it, silly sods booked his caravan into a site in Monifieth.
Doesn't put a present into his hands by tomorrow morning tho!
I wonder by how much the employees lifespan is increased as they are 'forced' to exercise?
Probably an inverse situation from the old mines, where peoples lifespans were reduced.
Job security? who has that these days?
[i]Did you not read that he lives 500 miles away...... [/i]
Yes, I read that bit, and it's quite close to home for reasons I won't go into. Which is why I replied, from the heart perhaps.
Pembo - Member
A colleague of mine runs the website for his wife's online business. Nice little niche business selling rainwear, wellies etc for kids. Business was doing ok so they decided to go with amazon market place and business grew, then suddenly overnight business from amazon dried up. You guessed it, amazon started selling the same items direct, for less.And that's why amazon should be avoided.
So nice little niche business tries to swim with the big boys and gets eaten, boo hoo, that's business 🙄
I'd rather work in an Amazon warehouse than down a mine.
What I thought. ^^
Ambivalent about the bloke who got sacked 'cos he took a day off in his first week because of blisters. Pretty sure I'd have spotted what was happening on the first day after walking 7 miles in safety boots and gone out and bought some thick walking socks - or even my own boots - instead of waiting until my feet turned into tatty and bloody shreds of flesh.
Or done that anyway knowing that the weekend was coming up. Or asked someone else who worked there if they had any tips.
If I needed a job for a year to pay the bills, I'd work there in a shot. It's not exactly fulfilling, but there are *much* harder jobs and to be honest, you just zone out, walk fast, and do it as well as you can.
Managed to avoid an amazon purchase, although he may have to wait 8-12 weeks. Which is not so good.
I'll treat the silly old git to a bottle of Whisky when he gets up here too.
fify 😉So nice little niche business tries to swim with the big boys and gets eaten, boo hoo, that's [s]business[/s] under-regulated free markets heading towards another monopoly
How much [i]more[/i] do you think amazon will charge for those nice little wellies once
-they have used their size to sell them at a tiny profit or indeed a loss,
-and in doing so forced those other businesses selling nice little wellies out of the market,
-bullied the manufacturer/wholesaler into doing them special rates because there is no one else to sell to,
-and then become the only place you can buy them?
I'd rather work in an Amazon warehouse than down a mine.
Hell yeah.
The thing is that these days people don't want to WORK for a living. They aspire to a 35hr week sat in front of a computer paying £50k plus expenses.
And that's how the article reads to me. A physically demanding job with opportunities for those that work their arses off. Nothing wrong with that IMO.
Nice one pie.
What actually happens when technological progress means 1 person does the job of 10? Are we all better or worse off or what?? Does it just result in greater wealth inequality? or less?
There's nothing unusual about the way Amazon's warehouses work. I've been working in distribution for nearly 15 years and other than the size of their operations and the pressure of so many orders, there's little different to our warehouses.
Using temps for busy periods and to recruit is standard practice all over.
I'm surprised they get away with pressuring the workers to keep up to speed so much in this country though.
I've seen it in the US, but not here, especially if some of the workforce belong to a union.
I use Amazon all the time. Almost all books, DVDs and CDs I buy (and I buy a lot of Cds) are either from them or via their marketplace.
At the end of the day, they are stupidly easy to use and satisfy their customers, that's why they have so many.
Just a few more links to other Amazon stories
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/10/amazon_strike_germany/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21488816
Thought you would have been a vinyl man myself Franki!
A physically demanding job with opportunities for those that work their arses off.
what about a mentally demanding job instead?
Worse in some ways as you are not getting any physical activity.
hard work or no work?
what would be your choice?
I would guess that if any options were presented to you that would result in you legally paying less tax, you'd turn them down flat?
As kcr points out, plenty of well-known successful companies choose not to behave like Amazon.
And no, I wouldn't make a special effort to reduce my tax bill.
