Tax avoidance: how do multinationals do it and can it be stopped?

George Osborne has announced a so-called Google Tax, while the OECD has proposed new cross-border tax rules

Starbucks sign
(Image credit: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

If you want to reduce your tax bill it seems the most effective route would be to become a multi-national company.

Time and time again we hear stories of how big name companies are paying minimal taxes. The latest report revealed that Facebook paid just £4,327 corporation tax in 2014 despite making global profits of £462m in the final quarter of that year.

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