Crunchers Edinburgh, are excited to announce to being the first accountancy practice in Scotland to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark. We are only the second accountancy practice in the UK, (my colleague in Crunchers South London, being the first), to be awarded this accreditation.

In recent years, larger companies have chosen to use tax practices, such as using tax havens, offshore companies, and artificial structures, to move profits about the world to reduce their tax burden. These companies inflate their overall profits as a result whilst destroying the level playing field for fair competition with smaller businesses.

How can say, a small local coffee shop, who is paying the tax that they are due, compete with the larger chains that may well be trading in the UK, but paying taxes elsewhere in the world?

Not all businesses are seeking to avoid paying the tax that they owe. At Crunchers Edinburgh, we believe that most small independent business owners, whilst not wanting to overpay on tax, would prefer to know that they are paying a fair, and more importantly accurate amount of tax. In fact, as we have already discovered, there are lots who pay their taxes, are happy to do so and want the world to know that they do.

With 1 in 4 consumers wanting to boycott tax dodgers, the Fair tax mark shows consumers which businesses they can trust, and as a result, it helps them spend their money where it counts.

Where should consumers be spending their money? Well in our opinion, it is with local, independent business owners, who not only bring us a great bespoke service, but also by generating profits, and paying a fair tax, they contribute back to the running of the country on both a local and national level