Hey, here’s a fun thought: guess what I have in common with Netflix?
No, it’s not that I seem interesting at first then become progressively more dull and annoying the longer you spend with me. That’s true, but not the answer I was looking for. It’s this: neither of us pay tax in the UK.
What’s different is my UK income, entirely from D.C. Thomson, is a welcome-yet-unimpressive three florins and a free copy of the Sunday Post, while Netflix reports corporate results that read like an international telephone number.
Last week, the Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, who is much more interesting than most of the programs on Netflix, used those numbers to cause a fuss in Parliament. Get this: Netflix has 11.62 million subscribers in the UK in 2019, according to the organisation Tax Watch, and generated £1.1 billion in income, with an estimated profit of £69 million.
But it paid no corporation tax. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
I did pay tax on my DCT florins, but in Ontario, because that’s where I live. It’s where my children go to school and I enjoy all the services that taxes bring, such as getting my bins emptied, having politicians to complain about and watching very cold people move ludicrous amounts of snow around. I’m proud to pay my taxes.
It is, to put it mildly, a scandal that Netflix avoids corporation tax, and gets special treatment from the British government to help it do so. That involves tax credits, among other things, and has cost you (assuming you are a UK taxpayer) almost £1 million over the last two years.
Let’s also take a moment to mention other large companies, such as Amazon, Google, Apple and Starbucks, all of whom are similarly at the capers, as my grandmother might have said. With help from their pals in the Treasury, and their consultants and lobbyists, they blatantly dodge paying their fair share.
Pay tax, companies. Also pay tax (where you live), all you individuals. Be proud to participate in society by contributing to the common good.
Now, if we could only get politicians to spend the money properly…
