Corporation tax: How you know if a company is good or bad, regardless of its size | Fair Tax Foundation

The Fair Tax Foundation built the world’s first Fair Tax Mark: a business opens its books to independent scrutiny, and the Mark certifies that it pays the right amount of tax, in the right place, at the right time. I spoke with its Chief Executive and co-founder Paul Monaghan, and its Head of Accreditation Jamie Boswell, about why they celebrate the companies getting it right rather than naming the ones that don’t, why small-business avoidance may be the under-examined half of the story, and what a company’s tax reveals about the kind of organisation, and citizen, it really is. The Foundation is a not-for-profit based in Manchester, UK, structured as a community benefit society with any surplus locked into its mission.

Full show notes, transcript and membership: https://content.changingthenarrative.media/corporation-tax-how-you-know-if-a-company-is-good-or-bad-regardless-of-its-size

Fair Tax Foundation: https://fairtaxmark.net

Chapters 00:00 Introduction: the Fair Tax Mark, and what a company’s tax reveals 02:07 How the Fair Tax Foundation began, and crossing over from “the dark side” 06:26 Inside the work: celebrating the good, not chasing the bad 09:45 How tax went mainstream, and where the US diverges 16:23 What the Fair Tax Mark actually certifies 22:14 The barriers to certification, and reaching the rest of the world 27:04 Wealth, billionaires and the case for corporation tax 31:01 Profit-shifting at the top: Starbucks, Apple and the Ireland case 33:05 The other half of the story: small-business evasion and the UK “tax gap” 40:50 What needs to change, and why Paul says we’re already winning 44:42 Sanctions, personal liability and organised crime 51:32 Reaching beyond Europe: the first Fair Tax Mark, in Thailand 55:58 Doing right by the community, and the leaders who choose to 58:26 How the Foundation is built: a “commercial not-for-profit” 1:00:29 One thing to take away

NOTE: On the Starbucks discussion (around 29:00): Starbucks’ UK retail arm paid no UK corporation tax for the year to September 2024, reporting a loss after around £40m in royalty payments to its parent company. Starbucks says it complies fully with tax law, citing an effective global tax rate above 24% in 2024. Source: The Guardian, 16/04/2025 - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/15/starbuckss-uk-retail-business-paid-no-corporation-tax-last-year