Over the past year there have been an increasing number of issues which have risen on how businesses such as Amazon, Thames Water, Google, Facebook and Starbucks have made vast amount of profits but haven’t been fair-minded. For example Starbucks made £400m sales in the UK but paid no corporation tax. According to Milton Freidman the main objective of a business is to increase profits so long as it stays within the game. Also Milton Freidman states that social responsibility is to act in some way that is not in the interest of employers. Profit is the net gain and loss made in a commercial transaction or services of transaction
Milton Freidman (1970) states that there is only one social responsibility of business increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game. What businesses such as Amazon, Starbucks and Google are doing isn’t illegal, according to H&M customs and revenue tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime to one’s own advantage. Thames Water paid no tax this financial year despite making £145m pre-tax profit (BBC). However many people claim that businesses aren’t fair as they’re only increasing profit and not promoting desirable ‘social’ ends. Why is it that smaller businesses are to pay full tax and bigger businesses don’t have to? Taxation is one of the most important features of government structure seeing as its pumped back into the economy and used to better the standard of living of citizens. With the UK going into austerity there’s growing concern for large profit organisations to pay taxes. However Bill Dodwell said that Starbucks had a right not to pay UK tax because they made no profit in the country. This therefore may make Starbucks fair seeing as they made a “Voluntary” £20million payment to the tax man. Many have described the relationship between profit and not paying tax as a positive correlation, as profits increase