A councillor has called for “responsible tax conduct” to be considered when Lichfield District Council decides where contracts are awarded.
A motion has been put forward to a meeting of the local authority next week by Cllr Rob Birch.
He said figures from the Institute for Business Ethics showed that the issue of corporate tax avoidance has been the “clear number one concern” of the public on the issue of the way companies conduct themselves.
“Almost two-thirds of the public agree that the Government and local councils should consider a company’s ethics and how they pay their tax as well as value for money and quality of service when undertaking procurement.
“It has been conservatively estimated that losses from multinational profit-shifting – just one form of tax avoidance – could be costing the UK some £7billion per annum in lost corporation tax revenues.”
“Paying tax is often presented as a burden, but it shouldn’t be.
“Tax enables us to provide services and it helps to counter financial inequalities and rebalance distorted economies.”
Cllr Rob Birch, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Birch’s motion says the council should ensure contractors pay a fair share of employment taxes, as well as ensuring not-for-profit structures are not being used to reduce the payment of tax and business rates.
“As recipients of significant public funding, local authorities should take the lead in their promotion of exemplary tax conduct, be that ensuring that contractors are paying their proper share of tax or by refusing to go along with offshore tax dodging when buying land and property.”
Cllr Rob Birch, Lichfield District Council
The motion – which will be put forward at the meeting on 22nd February – is available in full on Lichfield District Council’s website.