Hodge hails Fair Tax Mark ‘a fantastic idea’

Margaret Hodge

Margaret Hodge, the MP for Barking and Dagenham, chair of the influential Public Accounts Committee and general thorn in the side of tax-avoiding corporations, has described the Fair Tax Mark as ‘a fantastic idea’ that enables customers to ‘vote with their feet’.

“The reaction to the revelations about the tax practices of big names like Starbucks, Amazon and Google shows that this is an issue the public really cares about,” she said. “Given the choice, many people would prefer to give their custom to a responsible business that does the right thing and pays its fair share of tax.”

The Fair Tax Mark which launches today is being pioneered by three truly trailblazing businesses is the first accreditation scheme that rewards good taxpaying companies and those who want to become them. With more fair tax businesses already in the pipeline, the scheme aims to bring together more and more ethical consumers with businesses that play fair on tax.

Ms Hodge described it as empowering consumers to put their money where their ethics are and as ‘the most effective’ way of bringing about change in corporate tax-avoiding practices:

“The Fair Tax Mark helps give them the power to make that choice, and seeing customers vote with their feet is perhaps the most effective deterrent there is to companies engaging in tax avoidance or other irresponsible practices.”

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