Press watch: Tax is a moral issue, says Sainsbury’s chief

‘Justin King, chief executive of J Sainsbury PLC, has challenged business leaders to “stand up” and reveal their tax practices, arguing that “tax is a moral issue” for British companies,’ reported The Daily Telegraph (4 November 2013). ‘The supermarket boss argued that “consumers have every right to ask” how much a company is putting back into the country where they operate and make their profits. Speaking on a panel about business trust at the CBI annual conference he said that he “strongly disagreed” with those – including the CBI – who have said that company tax bills should be based on the letter of the law, not social responsibility.

‘He [told the CBI conference]: “The vast majority of individuals in this country don’t get to elect where they pay their tax but some corporations do. I have a very simple view on it – a corporation should be prepared to stand up and say what tax it pays and why it chooses where to pay it – because if we’re doing nothing wrong, which is usually the thing I hear asserted, then we should have no problem at all laying it bare to public scrutiny.”’