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Tax Dodging Spivs!

Wednesday, 27th February 2008

The Guardian has a shock horror expose of the way in which Tesco doesn't pay the right amount of tax.

It's truly heinous I tell you.

The Guardian's analysis of Tesco's accounts over the past five years also shows that the company has paid an effective tax rate of just over 20% on the rest of its profits, at a time when the UK corporation tax rate is 30%.

Clearly, if the effective tax rate is lower than the statutory tax rate then this is prima facie evidence of tax dodging, something which is so morally foul: it deprives the politicians of money to pay for our schools'n'ospitals.

Taken from the Guardian Media Group accounts:

	£m
	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003

*PBT (Including* exceptionals)**	97.7	66.4	53.7	43.6	36.9
Tax per P&L	33.5	20.5	19.8	10.9	13.3
% of PBT	34%	31%	37%	25%	36%

Tax paid	15.4	21.7	21.2	17.8	1.3
% of PBT	16%	33%	39%	41%	4%




Average 5 year tax rate based on P&L					33%
Average 5 year 'effective' tax rate based on spurious use of cash flow					26%

So what's the GMG's excuse, the tax dodging spivs? A lower tax rate last year even than Tescos!

Of course, it could be that there's little connection between headline tax rates and effective tax rates (allowances, credits, cash flow timings and so on) but then that would make the Guardian's findings an irrelevance in the first place, wouldn't it?

Many thanks to my informant, William Harford, for the table.