Bonzo77   13 #13 Posted October 21, 2014 Ikea gives more cash than Spain for ebola fight. http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/ikea-gives-more-cash-than-spain-for-ebola-fight-30677037.html  If my local stores had the same ethical policies as Ikea, I would be more likely to shop there. How can we make more businesses have such good ethics? Surely this would be better than large companies avoiding tax and paying low wages.  We could start by capping the amount of profit a large company can make and forcing them to pay their staff a good honest living wage.  Their profits would still be huge and they would help society in general. The more money people have to spend, the more jobs will be created. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Cyclone   10 #14 Posted October 21, 2014 Ikia is one of the companies named in the tax avoidance scandal and charitable donations are also tax deductible so they will pay even less tax than they otherwise would.  You can't really expect them to pay tax on profit that they've given away to charity.  ---------- Post added 21-10-2014 at 13:29 ----------  Isn't giving to charity one of the ways they use to dodge taxes???  How is it a dodge? They genuinely give the money away from profit, so they don't pay tax on that portion that is given away. Seems fairly straight forward, and you too can 'dodge' tax in the same way if you wish. (Charitable donations are not taxable at a personal level either).  ---------- Post added 21-10-2014 at 13:29 ----------  We could start by capping the amount of profit a large company can make and forcing them to pay their staff a good honest living wage. Their profits would still be huge and they would help society in general. The more money people have to spend, the more jobs will be created.  How exactly can you cap profit? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Bonzo77   13 #15 Posted October 21, 2014 How exactly can you cap profit?  Not sure to be honest. It would be complicated. But when you see the energy companies profits raising from £30 per household to over £105 in the UK. Those profits are not earned. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
andyofborg   11 #16 Posted October 21, 2014 We could start by capping the amount of profit a large company can make and forcing them to pay their staff a good honest living wage. Their profits would still be huge and they would help society in general. The more money people have to spend, the more jobs will be created.  Increasing the minimum wage to the living wage would be a good idea, even though it might mean some regional variation. We should put a maximum on the ratio between highest and lowest salary.  Capping profit would be tricky as a business would have to slow down and eventually pause trading as it approached the cap.  A tiered corporation tax structure would help, but that would mean getting international agreement that tax was paid in the country the profit was generated and closing the loopholes which allows companies to use license and other ways of shifting profit around.  A much better way would be to ensure proper competition by ensuring no company or collection of independent companies got big enough to either buy or drive competitors out of the market. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
truman   10 #17 Posted October 21, 2014 If you cap profits aren't you also capping millions of peoples' pensions (those whose pension funds are invested in the capped companies)? Or are you out to punish those who are trying to save for retirement as well as the companies.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Cyclone   10 #18 Posted October 21, 2014 Not sure to be honest. It would be complicated. But when you see the energy companies profits raising from £30 per household to over £105 in the UK. Those profits are not earned.  Monopolies and utilities should never have been privatised IMO. But since they have, the government should manage them more closely.  Entirely independent, private companies with no monopoly power should be allowed to charge whatever they like and make as much profit as they can. The minimum wage is a separate issue and should be appropriate (and once that goes up we can reduce handouts and cut the cost of bureaucracy). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Mecky   10 #19 Posted October 21, 2014 Monopolies and utilities should never have been privatised IMO. But since they have, the government should manage them more closely. Entirely independent, private companies with no monopoly power should be allowed to charge whatever they like and make as much profit as they can. The minimum wage is a separate issue and should be appropriate (and once that goes up we can reduce handouts and cut the cost of bureaucracy).  But the objective of most businesses is a monopoly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Mister M   1,632 #20 Posted October 21, 2014 I was listening to a report on Radio 4 sometime ago about charity Christmas cards, and Ikea were one of the very few companies to donate all of the money from the sale of their cards to the charity they nominated. Boots, WHSmiths came out at the bottom donating as little as 20% as far as I remember.  ---------- Post added 21-10-2014 at 16:48 ----------  But the objective of most businesses is a monopoly  I'm not sure that's their objective, but certainly being a market leader in their respective field would be something that most businesses would like Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Mecky   10 #21 Posted October 21, 2014 I was listening to a report on Radio 4 sometime ago about charity Christmas cards, and Ikea were one of the very few companies to donate all of the money from the sale of their cards to the charity they nominated. Boots, WHSmiths came out at the bottom donating as little as 20% as far as I remember. ---------- Post added 21-10-2014 at 16:48 ----------   I'm not sure that's their objective, but certainly being a market leader in their respective field would be something that most businesses would like  Didn't someone on here say the other day that mighty oaks grow from small acorns? If you ran a small business and another business open up next door offering the same service, you're not going to be very happy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
andyofborg   11 #22 Posted October 21, 2014 Didn't someone on here say the other day that mighty oaks grow from small acorns? If you ran a small business and another business open up next door offering the same service, you're not going to be very happy  or alternatively rise to the challenge and innovate your way to providing a better service than your neighbour Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Mecky   10 #23 Posted October 21, 2014 or alternatively rise to the challenge and innovate your way to providing a better service than your neighbour  That's what I'm saying. You're going to try and out do your competitor and preferablt force them out of business giving you a monopoly. Economies of scale Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Mister M   1,632 #24 Posted October 21, 2014 Didn't someone on here say the other day that mighty oaks grow from small acorns? If you ran a small business and another business open up next door offering the same service, you're not going to be very happy  Yes it was Coutts / Aspinal who said that, but to be honest I'd take what he says with a very large pinch of salt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
