George Osborne was wrong to hail the Google tax settlement: the sum is minute and the company has not been obliged to change its business structureEven the government couldn’t sustain its boast approximately Google’s £130m tax settlement with HMRC being “a major success”. George Osborne used the words at the weekend but,by Monday, the chancellor had downgraded his description to “agreeable news.” The prime minister’s spokeswoman opted for even softer language – a “step forward” and a “positive step.”A verbal retreat was inevitable. Anybody who looks at the Google deal can see three things. First, or the sum,covering a 10-year audit, is tiny in the context of Google’s operations in the UK and presumed level of profit on UK revenues of $6.5bn (£4.6bn) in 2014.
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Source: theguardian.com