EBS_freak

You are right. Why would Amazon pull out of Britain? They are paying the taxes on the profits as defined by the laws set out by the government. The whole other discussion at this point is completely hypothetical... and I’m not entirely sure how fraud comes into it? Multinationals operate within the boundaries set out by law. You are also only focusing Amazon - who adhere to the same taxation laws as other companies. A change to those tax laws could crucify those other companies. Are you suggesting we should have a separate tax law just for Amazon - just because we don’t like what they are or aren’t paying?

The thing is, the rule book is so, so, so massive, changing them is very difficult. There's people where their sole purpose in life is to find the loopholes in the tax rules and exploit them. That is not illegal. The thing is, in plugging the loophole, you may be inadvertently opening a much bigger one. Thats how complex all the interactions between entities are. The tax laws aren't like a board game - far from it!

You're shouting at the wrong person. In answer to your questions, yes you can - a lot of celebs have been caught out doing just that. Not illegal - as it's avoidance, not evasion. Just doesn't sit right with most - quite rightly. The big corporations that are generally referred to, do pay the requisite taxes that are due in the UK - and in Amazons case, they, "they" been Amazon Luxembourg, adhere to those rules . The "perceived" problem seems to be with the tax laws that Amazon are correctly following - just so happens the tax liabilities for Amazon's circumstances aren't as high as the public would like to see. It may be a monopoly - but it's a very important monopoly - and that's the crux of the issue. Pull the wrong pieces of string and it all comes crashing down. The government know that, Amazon know that. Stalemate. HMRC are well aware of who is paying what - and they will have done the calculations to see in which position the UK is better off - pulling the Amazon string or not.

Historically yes, not so much now given the existence of HMRC's Connect system... and other data mining systems that aren't public knowledge.

Well... I wouldn't agree with that at all. Being a small trader, it's easier to be creative with accounts, blurring the lines between personal and commercial expense for example... it's easier to maximise your cash out of the business. It's easier to deal off the books in cash. Bought a new computer? Yes, that's for the business. A TV? Yes, that's for the business. Additionally, payments of dividends out to a business owner, and say their spouse (who may not even do a days work for the company but are included by name only), maximise dividend payments out of the company. This brings more money into the shared household but without being subject to as much tax if it would as if only the true employee paid tax on their dividend. Of course, if you work for a larger company, you are a likely to be under the PAYE umbrella so taxed at source - but do appreciate you can still extract dividends. The pandemic has been really a really interesting rude awakening for those that have paid themselves a low wage and extract the majority of their earning from dividends... as Sunak doesn't appear to like people doing that... The really big companies pay minimal (corporation) tax - but they are still in line with the law (or should be) so in reality, they are better at tax avoidance as opposed to tax evasion. This is all within the boundaries of the law - and lets face it, they can invest the money so the bean counters can work out where the company is best placed to maximise profits and minimise operational costs. As T-H above states, the number of companies involved are relatively small - but say in the case of Amazon, it's worth remembering that they are an enabler for many other small businesses. The means a whole other stream of corporation tax and PAYE hanging off the bottom of those. Amazon offer up a shop front for independent traders, they create jobs not only within Amazon itself - but for the likes of third party couriers, manufacturers - such as cardboard box manufacturers...etc etc... and then when you factor in the likes of AWS, another Amazon offering, they are offering multiple businesses world class, international technology on which to host and build their online business. It simply makes zero sense for the government to p1ss off Amazon because the impact on so many reliant businesses would be catastrophic. Im not saying Amazon is right or wrong... but it's non-existence would have a MASSIVE impact on the UK economy... in fact, the world economy - that's how central it has become to the world's economy. They simply got super good at what they do - like most of the massive players... A world without Microsoft would put the economy and technology of the world back decades.

Essentially, what the government want is everybody on PAYE.

I think the majority of the Birmingham session scene have been involved with the Drifters in one way or the other. Although having said that, I think it all went stinky poo shaped. I think Prism (who had rights on the name in the UK) went under - but I know they stopped using the name for a while... maybe because a Phoenix company weren't allowed to use the name or something, maybe?

Ive never understood why they only went half baked - unless it's a pricing thing. I hate the outer bracing on the GR cabs. Looks like one of those awful kitchen surface joins instead of a proper biscuit joint. Would like to take one a part to see their construction - because from the outside alone, I can tell there's a lot that could be improved upon... but as I say, I don't know if these cabs are being built to a budget.

Don't get too excited, from 06/04/23 (it will soon be upon us) we've got MTD for ITSA (Making tax digital for income tax self assessment) to look forward to. Bring on those quarterly submissions. @taunton-hobbit- that's 4 times the accountancy fees for you 😜 - we may even have started gigging again by them. Maybe. Or the planet will be dead.

I wasn’t gonna say anything...

Something to do isn’t it?

Correct.

I don’t actually want a gig this side of April. Why would I want to complicate my self assessment return?

I wouldn't get a 2x8 based on the fact that it's an odd size for bass. If you ever need to move it on, the audience is going to be limited. As Bill suggests, your typical 1x12 is going to be a better performing cab. Cant speak for the GR stuff though - don't even know what drivers are in them

When you consider the coronavirus rules, I think you'll find that the rules for import /export from Europe are crystal clear.

I can see the TV adverts in years to come. "Have you paid too much VAT? Are you due a repayment of customs duty that was unduly paid? Call us now on...."

All the money is past the 5th fret on a 5 string! It's about the comfort of playing mid neck!

It's probably some letch going "trust me dahrlings, I'm gonna make you both big stars, just do exactly as I say..." "Yeah, OK" Its kinda how X Factor works. And why are the deluded ones so confident that they are good? Because they have been through a number of rounds being convinced they are good, ready for humiliation in front of the masses. Maybe.

Are you looking for a Photoshop course? (No disrespect to DR, but that's had a bit done in post)

Oh man! That Trace mixer. I had forgotten that!

Yeah, must have missed that.

I swear man... ad hominem mudslinging all the time.

By the way, absolutely no hate on Hartke from me. When I was in NY for a while, I hung with Larry a few times... and he was desperately trying to get me off my rig and onto Hartke. And he wouldn't sell me his Jack Bruce bass...

Im actually for this cab journey. I'd be doing all sort of mods just to have a play. And I was being serious about the dual speakers!

Yup. You are on a one journey with this cab. Probably not that an exciting one at that. If you want to have some DIY experiments with cabs, have a look to see if you can shoe horn in another identical speaker behind it and have a play with an isobaric setup for sh1ts and giggles... although I suspect your cab isn't deep enough. At least it will be a talking point then! Failing that, take it outside and play Uncle Rob.