Boss welcomes tax crackdown
The businessman who called on Rutherglen traders to use the same tax avoidance loopholes as global companies has welcomed George Osborne’s planned shake- up of corporation tax.
Kenneth Thom, director of Create Bathroom and Kitchen Studio on Cambuslang Road, called on local enterprise to follow in the footsteps of businesses such as Facebook in a bid to avoid paying large sums of corporation tax.
But this week the fourthgeneration businessman said he welcomed the UK Chancellor’s plans to support small and medium-sized businesses.
In his budget Mr Osborne said corporation tax would be cut to 17 per cent by 2020.
And he vowed to recoup billions of pounds by 2020 by stamping out some commonly used tax avoidance tactics.
One of the biggest changes is to end public sector employees being paid via personal service companies to avoid income tax.
Mr Osborne also claimed he could raise £9 billion by cracking down on multinational tax avoidance.
Speaking to the Reformer following the budget, Mr Thom said the UK Government had been forced to address mass inequalities in business after high street traders up and down the country vowed to use tax loopholes identified in the BBC 2 documentary ‘The Town that went Offshore’.
Mr Thom, whose business employs ten people and paid in excess of £10,000 in corporation tax last year, said the changes were positive.
He said HMRC should be more transparent and explain how major corporations’ tax settlements are reached, stating: “If it was widely known which companies are paying their tax then the public would be able to make an informed decision on which company they choose to spend their money with.
“It does not seem like a coincidence that companies such as Facebook have altered their tax structure since their tax arrangements were brought to the attention of the public or that Starbucks decided to pay more tax only when their market share was poorly affected.”
He added: “I welcome the cut in corporation tax as I believe that companies will use this tax cut to invest more in their business and in turn create more jobs.
“As a small business we welcome the opportunity to grow our company and we would consider adding to our staff of 10 and opening a new bathroom/kitchen showroom if the financial gains justified the risk in doing so.”