Offshore banking and taxation

Andy Street told me: "If you think two companies making the same profit, one of them pays corporation tax at the UK rate, one does not because it claims to be headquartered somewhere else. That is not fair."The Government is trying to address that but as yet we've not actually seen that (reform) really, really bite. It matters because the company paying corporation tax has, of course, less to invest in its future and in this time when retail is changing so fast that is a critical differentiator."So I asked him: "Just to be clear then, three years ago you said there is an 'Amazon tax problem'. You think there still is do you?""I think there still is," said Mr Street. "This is not just about John Lewis, let's be absolutely clear, this is about those UK companies paying corporation tax on the profit made on the UK against companies that make profit here but do not declare it and therefore do not pay tax."Over time this is likely to mean British companies, paying British taxes are disadvantaged."