Jim Armitage: Google defenders have a point — tax needs simplifying

Corporate bosses’ reactions to the Google tax row is less overwhelmingly pro-the tax avoiders than you’d expect.

Naturally, the likes of Rupert Murdoch, whose media interests aren’t exactly aligned with the free-to-air search engine, is bitterly opposed to its behaviour, but it’s not just him.

Others, particularly those with bricks and mortar operations which can’t be shifted to Dublin or Bermuda, are equally incensed: “We pay tax at 20%, plus ever-rising business rates,” they howl, “yet the world’s most profitable corporations pay nothing!”

More still — particularly those at big consumer-facing companies — talk of how Google is further damaging trust between business and the public, leaving a nasty taste in the mouth and customers felling disengaged.

From the unscientific tally of conversations I’ve had, though, a clear majority sympathise with the tech giants: nobody wants to pay tax — so why not find legal ways to avoid it?