The £93bn handshake: businesses pocket huge subsidies and tax breaks

Guardian’s analysis reveals that hidden subsidies, direct grants and tax breaks to big business amount to £3,500 a year given by each UK household

Taxpayers are handing businesses £93bn a year – a transfer of more than £3,500 from each household in the UK.

The total emerges from the first comprehensive account of what Britons give away to companies in grants, subsidies and tax breaks, published exclusively in the Guardian.

Many of the companies receiving the largest public grants over the past few years previously paid little or zero corporation tax, the analysis shows. They include some of the best-known names in Britain, such as Amazon, Ford and Nissan. The figures intensify the pressure on George Osborne, the chancellor, just as he puts the finishing touches to his budget. At the heart of Wednesday’s announcement will be his plans to cut £12bn more from the social welfare bill.

Yet that sum is less than the £14.5bn given to companies in direct subsidies and grants alone.

Corporate welfare is part of what David Cameron calls his government’s policy to make the UK “the most open, welcoming, business-friendly country in the world”.

He listed the “great incentives” for businesses to come to the UK in a document published last September for UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) – a government department working to help British businesses succeed abroad and to woo overseas investors. These incentives included, he said, the lowest corporation tax rate anywhere in the G7, tax exemptions for research and direct government support.

The Guardian’s analysis shows that while the state is giving private companies an increasing amount in direct handouts, the money repaid in corporate taxation is falling almost year upon year.

In the financial year 2012-13, the government spent £58.2bn on subsidies, grants and corporate tax benefits. It took just £41.3bn in corporation tax receipts.

In 2012, Amazon was attacked by MPs on parliament’s public accounts committee for avoiding UK tax. Yet in the same period, the online retailer was awarded £16.5m in grants by the administrations of Scotland and Wales to help build distribution centres. To link the Wales plant to the transport network, the Welsh assembly built the mile-long “Ffordd Amazon road” at an additional cost of £3m.


More and charts at:  http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/07/corporate-welfare-a-93bn-handshake


And I believe scummy slimeball coke sniffing Osborne has just lowered corportation tax in the budget.

His mates love him.

Straight from labour party HQ... lies and spin dept...!!!

Don't be a plonker all your life Tommy, they are figures taken from verifiable sources and gov.uk. I know you are in denial about everything these bastards do, but don't set out to make yourself look a fool. And sticking a after everything you say doesn't make it look any cleverer.

We need to support businesses who are needed to thrive to provide jobs, growth and wealth and taxes!!!

We should support small and medium sized businesses tommy. Big business should not be over restrained BUT giving them grants is absurd!

Think what we could do with that £93bn we are using to the benefit of those companies that do not need it.

Amazon is a multi billion dollar company. What on earth do they need £16million from the government for? They'd have built those distribution centres in any case.

Waste of money. We are scraping bit of cash by removing benefits from those in need while handing it out in massive chunks to billion pound corporations- that doesn't seem ridiculous to you?

That's if you believe the labour party lies and spin dept les...

Tommy Monk wrote:That's if you believe the labour party lies and spin dept les...

Are you saying these subsidies and grants do not exist?

I'm saying that labour generally talk shit!!!

No substance from you then. Surprise, surprise. You can't even answer a basic question.

Ha ha!!!



Coming from a leftie like you!!!

Tommy Monk wrote:Ha ha!!!



Coming from a leftie like you!!!

Not even a sense of irony either- every response here shows up your tunnel vision and willful ignorance.

Labour are shit at numbers, economics and telling the truth... so excuse me for laughing at the OP...!

Tommy Monk wrote:

Labour are shit at numbers, economics and telling the truth... so excuse me for laughing at the OP...!

It's a Guardian analysis. Not Labour. And no they aren't the same.

If it is BS you'd easily be able to prove that the stats are not true.

Eilzel wrote:

Tommy Monk wrote:

Labour are shit at numbers, economics and telling the truth... so excuse me for laughing at the OP...!

It's a Guardian analysis. Not Labour. And no they aren't the same.

If it is BS you'd easily be able to prove that the stats are not true.

Ok...!!!!