In europe and in the USA we are all talking about the crisis that hits the market. What we can see is that companies try to cut on all their costs. This is obviously one off the things they should do!
On the other hand, there is a big difference in what big companies do and what sme can do!
The big companies hire laywers and tax consultants in order to reduce at the max their profit taxes.
As they do so, they are able to reduce their taxes they need to pay to an absolute minimum. Practices like tranfer pricing or using the little unknown exceptions of the law, enable them to do this.
The SME are not able to do that and just have to pay their share.
If you take this situation, and you view to it from the moon, you can ask yourself:” what is the pattern I see? ”
The partern I see, is that, willingly or unwillingly, the SME are just playing their part of the game. By paying their taxes they assume their role in the community. It is my conviction that companies, big or small, have to play their role in society. One of this roles is to pay a minimum amount of taxes on their profits, because they use the facilities of the comunity. They have a safe environment, roads are there, people aree educated, etc….
In the long run people become frustrated, because they have to pay income taxes and they can see that bifg companies are abel to legally avoid taxes on their profit. As people become more and more frustrated, they will in the long run seek for alternatives for the products comming from these big companies. One example of a major player that already understood this principle is Warren Buffet, who proposed that milionaires should pay a descent amount of taxes. Do you really think he said that because of his empathy with poorer people? Perhaps he did, but he also said that because he knows in the long run, this strategy of not paying anough taxes, will reduce the value of his shares.
When a socialist ministre in Belgium proposes that companies should at least pay a minimum amount of tax on their profits, then I am tended to say she is right, not because of the socialist thinking behind it, but just in the interest of the companies itself.
One of the main patterns on the earth right now is too much wealth has been concentrated in too less hands. These bilionaires will not consume the same amount of goods as the milions of people that would normally possess this wealth. Therefore for their own sake, they should think about a redistribution of the wealth.
I think that the middle class, that is focussed so vigorously nowadays by extra taxes and less subventions, will in the long run, protest heavily against this situation.Revolutions have always been created by the middle- classes that faced a strong reduction of their wealth in a short period. The time is right for it. Greece is ready for it, Spain and Portugal are preparing for it….I am curious to see what is going to happen in Belgium!
It is for companies and welalthy people to do nothing and continue with their behavior, but face the consequences in the long run, or change their behavior and go for a minor redistribution of the wealth in order to prevent the world to go on the revolutionary pad!
If they would consider this little amount of empathy, this little act of compassion, they would make proove of a high emotional intelligence!
Eric Van Camp 