[財稅]跨國企業在英國的避稅與節稅(上)

如何開源節流是今日政府都需要去做的事情，尤其是英國。
開源就是增加稅收與其他收入，節流就是減少國家建設社會福利之支出，今年英國政府瞄準在英國境內營業的跨國企業，尤其是星巴克，亞馬遜與Google，因為他們的營所稅(Corporation Tax)上繳的很少，但卻賺了英國民眾狠狠一大筆。

Starbucks	Amazon	Google
UK sales of £398m in 2011 Paid no corporation tax Told PAC was lossmaking for 14 of 15 of the last years Employs 8,500 staff in UK	UK sales £3.35bn in 2011 Stated profit of £74m Paid £1.8m in corporation tax Employs 15,000 in UK	Turnover of £396m in the UK in 2011 Paid £6m in corporation tax Employs 1,500
Source: PAC, Reuters Adapted from BBC 2012

英國景氣低迷財政吃緊已持續一段期間，兩三年前因大學生因抗議調漲學費而上街示威抗議，接續著大學教師也罷工抗議一天表示響應，到調低社會福利(如失業補助、單親家庭與殘障津貼的公眾服務以及NHS)，而英國民眾的反對浪潮更是怒襲大英唐寧街。於此同時，矛頭漸指向那些跨國企業，尤其是星巴克，2011年營收近200億台幣卻不用繳所得稅，當然備受矚目。

下表格是近年英國營所稅稅率

Rates for financial years starting on 1 April [英國corporation tax 稅率]

Rate	2010	2011	2012	2013
Small profits rate*	21%*	20%*	20%*
Small profits rate can be claimed by qualifying companies with profits at a rate not exceeding	£300,000	£300,000	£300,000
Marginal Relief Lower Limit	£300,000	£300,000	£300,000
Marginal Relief Upper Limit	£1,500,000	£1,500,000	£1,500,000
Standard fraction	7/400	3/200	1/100
Main rate of Corporation Tax*	28%*	26%*	24%*	23%*
Special rate for unit trusts and open-ended investment companies	20%	20%	20%

官方網站鏈結:

推薦閱讀鏈結

1. Tax:Starbucks in talks with UK’s Revenue and Customs

2. Starbucks 'planning changes to tax policy'
3. Tax paid bysome global firms in UK ‘an insult’
從上面三個鏈結

摘錄部分內容
'Starbucks, for example, sold nearly £400m worth of goods in the UK last year, but paid no corporation tax at all, because it transferred some of the money to a sister company in the Netherlands in the form of royalty payments, bought its coffee beans from Switzerland and paid high interest rates to borrow money from other parts of the business.

 

星巴克英國子公司另外交4.7%營業額之權利金給予在荷蘭的另間子公司(歐洲總部)，從瑞士進口他們的咖啡豆，並以高利率向其他星巴克旗下公司借款，

星巴克的從稅務上來看是合法的，合於規定，但在英國人眼中卻是不道德的，因此遭受政府與輿論的批評，甚至英國 Public Accounts Committee 主席 Margaret Hodge 形容英國對大型跨國企業的稅率結構 : "荒唐，對英國企業及乖乖納稅民眾的一種污辱"。
這些跨國企業合法的利用稅法規則與結構將從英國經濟活動產生的利潤移往境外
怎麼能說跨國企業是錯的呢?
他們總會為自己喊冤阿~ :[我安分守法有錯嗎? 都照著你們的規矩走，還要被你罵!!]
這種舉動總是會招來批判的，尤其是在英國景氣低迷之下，
就看到了窮光光的政府聯合苦哈哈的民眾一起揮舞著道德的大旗幟去反對企業少繳稅，我覺得他們抗議有理，造反無罪，政府怎會說自己有罪呢?

題外話:
許多違法的事情遇到公權力總是會變成合法，例如大樂透的合法賭博以及12月3日台東縣某鄉五村落了集資買大樂透，為了那13億的高額獎金，這沒有公然聚賭嗎?  朋友請回答我。


觀之台灣的營所稅有許多節稅方式像是利息支出、交際費、捐贈、薪資支出、員工退休金等皆含節稅之效果，或盈虧互抵。
更依<營利事業所得稅藍色申報書實施辦法>相關規定，又依所得稅法第102條規定，委託會計師或其他合法代理人查核簽證申報之營利事業所得稅結算申報案件，亦得享受所得稅法對使用藍色申報書者所規定之各項獎勵，節稅優惠大致如下:

1. 交際費限額較高:
2. 可盈虧互抵前十年之虧損
3. 若夫妻經營二個以上之營利事業，均係藍色申報者，其中如有虧損部分，得適用盈虧互抵。

就是看台灣公司是否能好好利用這些合法合乎道德的節稅了。

輿論主導企業走向

英國政府與民眾的聲音被跨國企業接納了，也因此做了些更改，例如
'Starbucks currently pays 4.7% of its sales to a sister company in the Netherlands, and plans to continue the payment, but will no longer use it to reduce its tax liability.'
英國星巴克將繼續支付4.7%的權利金給荷蘭星巴克總部，但將不採用此作為避稅手段。

政府干預過度?
不知道英國政府此舉是否過度干預了企業的經營策略呢?
在這三篇中BBC 也訪問了一個稅務專家，列示如下:

Heather Self, a tax expert, told the BBC assessing tax for major companies was not simple.

"If you buy a book from Amazon you are actually buying from a Luxembourg company," she said. "It decides how many books to buy and at what price they sell them for. All you have in the UK is a warehouse, a very big warehouse that employs a lot of people but that is all it does. The risk is taken in Luxembourg.

"Profits paid here are for the activities it undertakes here and that is not highly profitable. It is not as simple a situation as the Public Accounts Committee likes to make out sometimes."

對啊!! 整個供應鏈上，或許在英國的部分是屬於低收益低成本的階段，而非是主要的研發、設計製造等較高成本的階段，但卻僅看高營業額而就要求課高稅額，
一個100元的，成本卻只有1元產品 與 賣1000元成本卻901元 產品，那個的營利所得(單純來看)較高呢? 總不能因此認為1000元的因此要繳交多一點營所稅吧!!

 

 

繼續閱讀: [財稅]跨國企業在英國的避稅與節稅(下)

---

corporation tax            from "UK's HM Revenue and Customs"
Corporation Tax is a tax on the taxable profits of limited companies and some organisations including clubs,
societies, associations, co-operatives, charities and other unincorporated bodies.
英國的營利事業所得稅

Royalty and licence fee    from "The World Bank"
Royalty and license fees are payments and receipts between residents and nonresidents for the authorized use of intangible, nonproduced, nonfinancial assets and proprietary rights (such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial processes, and franchises) and for the use, through licensing agreements, of produced originals of prototypes (such as films and manuscripts).
簡單地說，加盟金



圖片引用自
BBC,2012. Starbucks 'planning changes to tax policy. Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20580980 [Accessed 4th of December, 2012]

附註:
不小心找到個 供應鏈設計與管理 (Supply Chain Design and Management)
鏈結 http://ind.ntou.edu.tw/~ericting/material-supply%20chain.htm