[ktizo]

I find pretty funny the current UK governments avowed surprise at the fact that companies are paying very little tax.

"... In March 2011, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the British cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters, announced in his budget statement three major changes to UK corporation tax."

"The first was that the rate for large companies in the UK was set to fall to 23%. The second was that the UK would move to a corporate tax system where only the profits of companies arising in the UK would be subject to UK corporation tax; this representing a compete reversal of the situation that existed prior to 2009 when UK companies were (albeit convolutedly) taxable on their worldwide income. And thirdly he announced that if in the future a UK company runs its internal banking arrangements through a tax haven subsidiary then that company will benefit from a special UK tax rate of just 5.75 per cent of the resulting profits. ..."

from "Tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions and the breakdown of corporation tax" - http://rwer.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/rwer-issue-57-richard-m...