How long does it take a locksmith to open a van with keys locked inside?

[dennis]

You just ask him how long and will it be long enough to make tea.

[soup]

I never stated nor implied that what they were doing was in anyway illegal. Immoral (in my opinion yes) but not illegal. Despite what Lord Clyde says to avoid tax to that extent is immoral.

I agree that taking advantage of loopholes has been going on for years^W as long as laws have existed, but that does not mean people/companies should do it .

[Huge]

Fuck off and die screaming, there's a good little wankstain.

[Huge]

More's the pity.

[Chris French]

I'm not unsympathetic to the argument that Amazon (and other big companies that do the same sort of thing, Boots was one IIRC) should pay more tax to the UK (or other countries) they are operating in.

However, how should a company decide how much tax to pay, if it then doesn't operate to minimise it's tax liability. What about the shareholders? as presumably the company will be less profitable. What if the company then is less competitive because it pays more tax than a competitor

[Adrian]

And that's the whole point.

Amazon has NEVER made a profit, anywhere in the world, until into 2015.

And, everywhere in the world, Corporation Tax is a tax on... profit.

[Tim Streater]

This is c*ck, I'm afraid. What you're saying is, that when the company submits its tax return, and the Revenue is happy with it, they should pay more anyway. To whom, then? Which country? And how much? And who decides how much?

Since the answers to these questions are entirely arbitrary (within some limits), it's stupid to make vague assertions like you do.

[Richard]

Bit touchy for something with a 'nym of huge. Huge.. pussy?

[Richard]

WTF? Think I was calling you a thieving s**te. Well, as they say, if the cap fits...

[newshound]

An acquaintance of mine lost his house key fairly late on a Sunday evening. IIRC he had proper five lever mortise locks. Before I discovered that we had a local guy, I had started thinking about which window to break or force. The local man had him in inside an hour for £60 or thereabouts with no damage to doors or locks. His number is now in all our phones.

[Chris French]

My FIL managed to get a key stuck in our lock (it was the wrong key). We weren't at home at the time, oherwise I could have probably broken in.

He called a lock smith and It was IIRC a similar price. Anyway, at the time I thought it reasonable enough

[MM]

Hats off to that old lord for stating the obvious.

By comparison, you have Margaret Hodge.

I firmly believe it is in *every* taxpayer's interest to avoid any tax wherever possible as long as it complies with the letter of the *law*.

MM

[Adrian]

Except, apparently, Amazon.

[MM]

You can't be convicted of that! In my opinion, giving extra to the revenue is immoral.

Why on earth not?

MM

[MM]

And yet Margaret Hodge, always on Amazon's back, makes such assertions

*all* the time. Starbucks was eventually brought to the position that they were practically forced to *donate* tax!

MM

[MM]

The locksmith stated after the van drove away that there is NO master key, NO copies. The only way to get in is by drilling out the lock.

MM

[MM]

Nope. The van driver has moved in and we're just having breakfast. A lot younger than me, though.

MM

[spuorgelgoog]

I'm sure we're all very happy for you both :-)

"Old enough to shave, old enough to shag" as my old granny used to say.

Owain

[MM]

MM

[RobertL]

When the AA opened my car (keys locked inside) he asked me to look away as he did it. It took him about 15 seconds.

Robert