Tax avoidance

Sometimes, it seems that all the big companies are at it.  Look at this extract from The Independent:

The Cayman Islands is one of the few places in the world where there are more registered businesses than people. The islands have long been considered a tax haven, with no direct corporate taxes levied on businesses. There is also no personal-income tax, no sales tax, no capital-gains tax, and no wealth tax. No minimum wage exists on the islands.

The British firms with the highest number of companies registered in the Cayman Islands – according to analysis of Companies House files by ActionAid in October 2011 – are:

174 Barclays

37 RBS Group

30 HSBC 

24 Lloyds Banking Group 

20 International Power 

17 Standard Chartered 

15 Prudential 

14 Tesco 

10 BP 

10 Man Group

And successive British governments have tolerated this situation.