An NAO report shows about a third of the UK’s largest companies paid no corporation tax at all. But they won’t tell us who they are. http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0607/management_of_large_business_c.aspx
The National Audit Officer report shows that in 2005/6, 220 of the 700 companies avoided all corporation tax and another 210 paid less than £10m each out of the £24billion total.
Given that this 700 account for over half of all corporation tax income – and of course because “we’re all in this together” - you would think that it would be in the public interest to know who is paying what. Apparently not.
One of our UNISON folk wrote a Freedom of Information request to the NAO seeking:-
1) The identity of the 220 paying none
2) The identity of the 210 apparently avoiding most
3) The identity of the 700 top companies
They responded that they did not have items 1) and 2) (though they had ranked the companies by tax paid and thereby avoided) and on 3) they could not disclose because of the Financial Act. An appeal against this decision and was turned down as was a complaint of the Information Commissioner.
Anybody out there got any more information on this – or where to go next to get it?
http://unisonactive.blogspot.com/p/contact-unisonactive.html
