Nine out of 10 people believe tax avoidance by large companies is morally wrong, even if technically legal, according to a survey that appears to reflect growing unease in Westminster about the UK’s unwillingness to tackle the issue.

The poll of 2,051 adults in the UK, conducted on behalf of Christian Aid after the publication of the Paradise Papers, also found that 85% of people believe it is too easy for large companies to avoid paying tax.

However, the results of the ComRes poll also suggest any tax gains from the use of contrived offshore arrangements could be partially offset by consumer anger in the form of boycotts.



One in four of the people surveyed are boycotting a company’s products or services because it does not pay its fair share of taxes, with a further 43% considering a boycott.

The findings follow disclosures from the Paradise Papers, which revealed how the offshore law firm Appleby helped multinationals including Apple, the world’s most profitable company, to legally minimise taxes.

Following public outrage at Apple’s use of an Irish structure to slash its tax bill, Appleby helped the tech firm set up a Jersey structure to continue paying an ultra-low tax rate on its profits.

The Guardian also revealed the lengths to which companies will go to avoid paying substantial amounts of UK tax on some of the biggest property deals in recent years.

The data included hundreds of pages of tax advice prepared for several multimillion-pound deals, including the £480m purchase of a business park.

Leading accountancy firms could be seen recommending the use of offshore companies and a series of complex loans to minimise the tax bills on buying, letting and eventually selling commercial buildings.

The ComRes poll also indicates there remains substantial public appetite for further commitments from political parties to clamp down on abusive tax practices.

More than three-quarters (77%) of those surveyed thought that government had not gone far enough in tackling corporate tax avoidance.

Simon Kirkland, Christian Aid UK’s parliamentary and political adviser, said: “Tax havens cost the UK economy billions of pounds in lost revenue each year. They also cost developing countries hundreds of billions of pounds that could instead be used to tackle poverty.

“But government appears to have developed a tin ear to overwhelming public opinion. It appears to be complacent on the issue and has introduced measures that are often too little too late.

“We need proper action now and there is much the government could do. For example, ministers should insist that UK companies publish the taxes they pay and other key indicators, in every country in which they work. They took the power to do this in June 2016, but have done very little to make it a reality.”

Christian Aid also called for the UK to introduce transparency regulations to its overseas territories, several of which are major tax havens that appear repeatedly in the Paradise Papers.

“Given the scale of tax avoidance linked with the UK’s tax havens, the prime minister should set a deadline for the UK’s overseas territories to adopt the same transparency on true company ownership as the UK,” Kirkland said.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable, has accused the government of being soft on tax avoidance. He said Theresa May and David Cameron, under whom he served as business secretary, had been consistently weak in clamping down on the overseas territories.

“There is little doubt that systematic tax avoidance is causing significant damage to the British revenue position in the budget. Why on earth is the British government blocking sensible, practical attempts by the European Union to stop predatory behaviour by some of its member states?” Cable said.

The former cabinet minister argued there was a long history of the government “dragging its heels” when it came to the tax practices of its own overseas territories, claiming he witnessed the lack of action when he was in the coalition government.