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A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers has confirmed fears about the rising corporate tax burden being suffered by Britain’s biggest companies.
According to the study, the total amount paid in business-related tax by top companies is about double the value of their annual bill for corporation tax alone.
The survey questioned The Hundred Group finance chiefs of 108 leading companies. It found that in the 2004-05 financial year, the corporation tax paid totalled £9 billion — 27% of the Government’s total corporation tax revenues for the year.
The same companies paid out a further £9 billion after the effect of 18 other taxes on businesses is added into the reckoning, doubling their total bill from the Exchequer.
In addition to corporation tax, large companies also bear the cost of a diverse range of other levies such as employers’ national insurance contributions, local business rates and irrecoverable VAT, often in addition to charges such as the climate change levy, customs duties and landfill tax.
The Hundred Group said that these costs to corporate Britain deserved greater attention, since they “go largely unrecognised by investors, employees and other stakeholders because they are not specifically disclosed in a company’s financial statements”.
Philip Broadley, Chairman of the Hundred Group, commented: “There is a need for greater transparency regarding all taxes paid by business, not just corporation tax, to ensure that stakeholders are more aware of these other business taxes and the total amount that companies contribute to society.”
Source:
RedAlert
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