I paid my tax bill yesterday, as you can see from the accompanying picture. I have been thinking about this subject recently, as there has been a furore over Starbucks, Amazon, etc., as well as various celebrities and people who are (in my opinion) rich enough already, using loopholes and legal means to squirrel away as much money for themselves as they can, ignoring what taxes are for, what they pay for, and the benefit they bring to the society among which and from which they make their money.

I’m not going to get overly political here. No, I’m not a fan of the present government, and on how they are distributing public funds, but the fact that there are any public funds to distribute in the first place is down in large part to people who do pay their tax.

I’m actually quite annoyed (especially in the year where I must pay double tax because of the payment on account system) that other companies operating in the UK are behaving like this, and giving businesses a bad name, too.

I have been checking on a few companies that I use recently to make sure I am making the most ethical choices I can (hooray for Eat. and Lush!). And it struck me that I should make some sort of statement on my own position regarding tax.

Statement on Libro and tax

I confirm that Libro is a British entity fully subjected to UK taxes. I have no cross-border arrangements that transfer profits to lower tax countries.

I pay a fair amount of tax and I claim back what I consider to be fair (expenses like reference books, memberships of organisations and a small amount towards the heating and lighting of the part of the house occupied by my office).

I do not engage in any tax avoidance (that’s the legal one: it’s tax evasion that’s the “bad” one) practices, even were they to be officially legal. I do not claim for anything I do not have, and all payments, including cash payments and tips, are put through my books, recorded and entered into the calculations that work out my tax burden.

I operate in what I consider to be an ethical and fair way, and this extends to my relationship with HMRC.

Other posts about Libro and tax

I’m obviously quite interested in tax, as I’ve published these other two posts on the topic:

Why I do my tax return in April

Income tax payment on account

Thanks for reading – do share if you find this useful or interesting (there are many buttons just below) or tell me whether you’ve posted up a statement on your tax position if you’re a small or medium sized business.