Well the beans never actually go to Switzerland, and the bean dealership seems to be there specifically as a tax dodge so... again, morally (as we're talking about here) I'm not sure what the issue is.
It comes down to this - Starbucks operate a chain of coffee shops in the UK. They report to their shareholders that their UK division is a profitable enterprise, they report to the HMRC that it's a loss-maker. Somewhere in between there is probably the truth, and it's that truth the UK should be taxing on.
Why should Starbuck, simply because it is a multinational, enjoy tax breaks that a local/national business does not get?
--edit-- I realise that that isn't a moral question for starbucks, but one for the res of us. The question for Starbucks is 'What is the limit of reasonable behaviour?' and many people consider they've gone far beyond that.
I know you think the limit of reasonable behaviour for a corporation is the same as the limit of the law, so I'll pose the same question to you I posed to someone else downthread -
If it's not (yet) illegal to dump industrial byproducts into the water supply in the country you're operating in, is it moral to do so?
It comes down to this - Starbucks operate a chain of coffee shops in the UK. They report to their shareholders that their UK division is a profitable enterprise, they report to the HMRC that it's a loss-maker. Somewhere in between there is probably the truth, and it's that truth the UK should be taxing on.
Why should Starbuck, simply because it is a multinational, enjoy tax breaks that a local/national business does not get?
--edit-- I realise that that isn't a moral question for starbucks, but one for the res of us. The question for Starbucks is 'What is the limit of reasonable behaviour?' and many people consider they've gone far beyond that.
I know you think the limit of reasonable behaviour for a corporation is the same as the limit of the law, so I'll pose the same question to you I posed to someone else downthread -
If it's not (yet) illegal to dump industrial byproducts into the water supply in the country you're operating in, is it moral to do so?