British companies contemplate move abroad

In a bid to pile pressure on the Government for tax concessions, British companies are threatening to move to more tax friendly countries.  After a recent decision to allow pub companies to invest their properties in tax-shielding trusts, it looks like the pressure is starting to work.

For the average company paying tax in the UK, a move abroad to somewhere like Dublin, for example, could save them 15.5% in tax on their profits.  But there are some companies which don't actually pay corporation tax at the moment, their concern is what they may have to pay if things change in the future.

There is a lot to think about before these companies decide to emigrate however.  For instance there will be less help from the ministers when lobbying in Washington or Brussels and most likely not much of a welcome when targeting for contracts with the government.

At the moment no big company has gone abroad however, it would only need one big, household name to go, to turn this so far quiet, dissatisfaction into a huge row.