Richard Murphy nearly gets it

Although Mr M was one of the people putting about the myth that There is $21 trillion hidden in tax havens, common sense appears to have prevailed. What he now says ties in with my post of yesterday evening.

From today's City AM Forum:

I disagree with Sir Martin Sorrell’s claim [that corporation tax payments are a "question of judgement"]*, which is based on the perception that capital can locate where it wishes and can move at will.

Three things perpetuate this myth.
* The first is that tax havens (and low-tax jurisdictions), whose opacity allows much of the supposed mobility of capital, obscure the reality that often nothing moves bar the ink on a contract.
* The second is a financial sector that promotes and services this myth.
* The third is that tax authorities are unwilling – as the Public Accounts Committee has suggested – to tackle tax avoidance.

Multinational companies cannot make money without engaging customers, staff, and by employing assets. Paying tax in the right place at the right time is not a moral obligation. The right place is where the customers, staff and assets are.** The right time is when the law of the land dictates. It is not "a matter of judgment"; it is a legal obligation.

* On the facts and under current rules, Martin Sorrell is quite correct. The relevant question is the "mobility" or otherwise of "capital".

** Change that sentence to "The right place is the locations at which their customers, staff and assets are" and that's your cluebat as to what the ideal tax base is.