Is the Facebook lack of taxation a problem for the people who want more revenue?

Certainly this is not a "start up" business that needs government support as was earlier stated by some here. So that cannot be the reason. Perhaps it is the crony capitalism that is so disliked by many.

This is why we need standardization on our tax system.

Yes, it is a problem.

Yes it's crony capitalism, however, it is not just a problem with the US tax system, it's about companies being able to exploit loopholes in the international systems and locate tax havens.

Exactly why there should be no loopholes and everyone pays the same...

I agree.

I'm not familiar witrh the story, so I can't really comment. Does Facebook actually make much profit anyway though ? Seems to me that the stock price wouldn't have collapsed so rapidly from flotation if it was coining it in.

For the record btw, so as to avoid needless digression, I fully support all companies paying their fair share of corporation tax. My preference is for low rates of corporation tax alongside a strict policy of closing down loopholes and clamping down on tax avoidance. The two should go hand in hand, although in reality this can be tough to achieve.

Not just Facebook, though.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/facebook-foreign-taxes-profit_n_2376055.html

We had a similar story about Starbucks recently. They claim to have never made a profit on their UK operations in the whole time they've been operating here, meaning they've hardly paid any tax at all. This despite billions in revenues and a huge expansion here which has seen Starbucks branches spring up in every town and city across the country. It defies all common sense to suppose that they'd invest so heavily in expanding into a market that doesn't generate any profits. They're not the only company doing this either, it seems to be routine for major multinational corporations. I think it says a lot that they even seem to be doing it in Ireland, which has the lowest rates of corporate tax in the EU.

Something needs to change here. I wouldn't want to see businesses stung with aggressively high tax rates, that would be counterproductive and bad for jobs, but they can't just get away with paying next to nothing. Global action to crack down on these accounting tricks will be required to make sure that companies are paying their way, possibly combined with an aggressive naming and shaming campaign so that consumers can be made aware of which major companies are not being socially responsible.

Sassenach wrote:. This despite billions in revenues and a huge expansion here which has seen Starbucks branches spring up in every town and city across the country. .

I know this is an off topic digression but this reminded me of Lewis Black

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENGUYeiGtNk