The Guardian tries a nice bait and switch in an editorial today.

But what if the threats
to decamp are real? If globalisation really has made it easier for
companies and individuals to relocate abroad, then moves to recoup
small amounts of money could lead to the loss of much greater sums and
lots of jobs, if businesses and employees migrate to lower tax climates.
…
But the flip side of this
freedom is that corporations and managers should act as good citizens:
and that means paying their proper share of taxes. It is not as if they
are an oppressed species. As Incomes Data Services reported last week,
the pay of top company directors rose by 18% last year, over six times
higher than the rise in average weekly earnings of 2.8%. And 18% of,
say, £500,000 is a lot more than 18% of average earnings of £22,400 a
year. If it turns out there is a real problem about corporate
migration, then it will have to be faced. But there must be a suspicion
that industry is simply trying it on this time.

Where’s the switch? Well, talking about corporate taxation is one thing, talking about the taxation of managers of corporations is another. Take my little business for example.

We purchase things in Kazakhstan, refine it in Russia, sell it in Taiwan, the US, Germany and so on. Why should we pay corporation the in the UK? If I live in the UK, sure, I should pay income tax there, but why should the corporation do so? Of course, we’ve organised things so it does not, but that shows up the two things about globalization and taxes that need to be addressed. Both the ease with which businesses can indeed escape (entirely legally I might add) national taxation on profits (but not on personal income, whether from labour or dividends which depend upon the residency of the indivdual, not the company) and secondly, the intellectual argument. Given the above, exactly where should, in moral terms, taxes on those profits be paid?

I realise that the Guardian is not going to accept my view that companies should not pay tax at all but given that disagreement, can anyone come up with an argument that shows that we should be paying corporation tax to El Gordo?