FishFright
More wheels than sense
The issues with Amazon are I believe firstly their European tax base is in Luxembourg (I think) so they don't pay corporation tax here. However the other big issue is they are still growing so don't actually make a profit in Europe anyway or at least that was true a few years ago so even in Luxembourg I don't think they were paying corporation tax as that is on profit. Amazon have warehouse staff in the UK and some other staff but customer service is people in India mainly and other elements of the business are run off shore away from the UK. Amazon by running at a loss in Europe are basically destroying competitors at a high rate and of course in the future will move more to profit when there is less competitors than now. We have seen many competitors disappear both online and bricks and mortar. It's extremely easy to see the damage caused by Amazon not just the UK but the USA, Germany and many other countries where Amazon is a major player.
At the end of the day we have to decide if we just let the market dictate what happens or we proactively control our economy for the benefit of its citizens even if citizens resent this as it curbs their ability to import goods at such high levels.
Which is why my total spend at Amazon is still zero.
