Britain will only grow again when it can shrug off its tax burden

If the government really wanted to boost the economy, it should be taxing companies less, not more, says Matthew Lynn

There are few more controversial issues in British politics right now than the tax paid by big companies. Just about every week another big multinational corporation gets roasted in parliament and the papers for not paying enough corporation tax. The complex geography of the corporate finance department the double Dutch and the Irish sandwich, along with the Luxembourg or Cayman Islands subsidiary are becoming familiar to most of us.

There is no doubting that some of the anger is genuine. At a time when living standards are stagnant, when wages are struggling to keep up with inflation, and when public spending is under pressure, people see that household names such as Google or Apple are paying very little, and believe there is one rule for big companies and another for them.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.