How do I avoid tax avoiding Google?

[Osdog]

http://www.thesearchenginelist.com/

Have a look here.....

[meredith]

StartPage.com is the best way to keep your search info private and not sold by Google for marketing data.
 

Moderator edit: merged with the topic you posted exactly the same information in.

[meredith]

StartPage.com is the best alternative search engine, it uses Google,
but encrypts your search criteria, so it doesn't record your data.

[Duke Fame]

I have just responded to a request asking for old images of Strines by recommending that he 'googles Stockport Council Image Archive' to see their fantastic collection of old photographs of all districts which are now part of Stockport MBC and at the same time I realise that I face a moral dilemma! I am boycotting Boots, Cadbury, Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Amazon and Ebay (for details of more tax avoiders check the '38 degrees' website). They don't want to pay British so I am shopping elsewhere but I cannot find a satisfactory alternative to tax avoiding Google. The MSN search on my computer is useless, Ask Jeeves is not particularly brilliant. Is there a satisfactory alternative to Google which does pay British tax? Secondly 38 degrees shows 13 big tax avoiding companies. Does anyone know of newspaper articles or reports about other companies in Marple and Stockport which avoid tax? No personal speculation which could get an individual (or Marple Website) into trouble please - just reference to newspaper articles or bona fide reports which have been published elsewhere.

It may be worth asking 38 degrees how much tax they pay as an organisation. Hypocrisy can be pretty hypocritical sometimes.

[Howard]

The only problem with this suggestion, Howard, is that information posted on Wikipaedia is frequently inaccurate.

Wikipedia is one source of the search engine's results hence the use of the word "augment"; no-one should use Wikipedia as a single source for their information although I would argue with your use of the work "frequently". From THEIR OWN ARTICLE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_accuracy "Between 2008 and 2010, articles in medical and scientific fields such as pathology, toxicology, oncology and pharmaceuticals comparing Wikipedia to professional and peer-reviewed sources found that Wikipedia's depth and coverage were of a high standard.". The article also addresses vandalism and shows comparative studies against other Encyclopaedic resources showing Wikipedia is of similar accuracy to articles in Encyclopaedia Britannica.

My point was that duckduckgo.com is making a brave attempt at taking a different approach to providing results for its users by trying to address the concerns such as user profiling and tracking which is what Bing and Google do. If people want an alternative to Google then I have provided an option.

[My login is Henrietta]

Dragging the topic back to its original point, you might try duckduckgo.com which is a search engine which uses information from crowdsourced websites such as Wikipedia to augment traditional results and improve relevance. The search engine policy emphasises privacy and does not record user information. Because users are not profiled, the "filter bubble" can be avoided, with all users being shown the same search results for a given search term.

I have no knowledge of their tax position in the UK but my impression is that they take a more ethical position than other search providers.

The only problem with this suggestion, Howard, is that information posted on Wikipaedia is frequently inaccurate.

[simonesaffron]

Ask a simple question and you get an irrelevant answer! I don't like the black economy either but I am seeking an answer to a straight forward question and I am getting replies that indicate why Marple people have stopped using the Marple Website because the original question or topic becomes buried unanswered beneath a mountain of irrelevant rubbish.

I agree !

I didn't realise that you spoke for "Marple people".

[Rachael]

Ask a simple question and you get an irrelevant answer! I don't like the black economy either but I am seeking an answer to a straight forward question and I am getting replies that indicate why Marple people have stopped using the Marple Website because the original question or topic becomes buried unanswered beneath a mountain of irrelevant rubbish.

I agree !

[Howard]

Dragging the topic back to its original point, you might try duckduckgo.com which is a search engine which uses information from crowdsourced websites such as Wikipedia to augment traditional results and improve relevance. The search engine policy emphasises privacy and does not record user information. Because users are not profiled, the "filter bubble" can be avoided, with all users being shown the same search results for a given search term.

I have no knowledge of their tax position in the UK but my impression is that they take a more ethical position than other search providers.

[Water Rat]

Further to your request concerning local businesses and their tax position.  May I recommend cross-referencing the Marple Business Directory with the accounts lodged at Companies House.  This will allow you to research local companies and their tax payments and avoid all forms of unsupported speculation.

There will be a cost to accessing this information but if it is your professional interest you may be able to offset the cost against your personal tax - this is a potential allowance not avoidance.

Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year everyone.

[sgk]

Which countries do you think Google should pay tax in? It is accessible in almost all countries of the world - are you expecting it to pay taxes in all of them?

Suppose an American family reads the Marple website, clicks on one of the advertisers and orders some of their goods by post (you never know!). Should the Marple website pay American taxes? That would be ludicrous.

I expect Google to pay taxes in whichever country it has a physical (not virtual) presence. I'm guessing that most of its manpower and servers are located in America and will be depending on American infrastructure. Therefore, it should be paying American not British taxes.

Suppose the Marple website employed 1,300 people in America though.  And paid 0.87% of its American turnover as tax.  Acceptable?

Google are thought to have about a million servers in their datacentres, spread around the world.  Makes no sense to host all your very-heavy-traffic servers in the US, would bring latency and bandwidth issues/costs.

• Google 1,300 UK employees, 0.87% of UK turnover paid as tax.
• Facebook 90 UK employees, 18% of UK turnover paid as tax.  Zuckerberg the good guy.  Who knew?
• Wal-Mart (ASDA) no idea how many UK employees, 0.87% of UK turnover paid as tax.  All that tax evasion means you can pay £12m for a college building I guess.  Shame they don't just fund the UK education system to start with, via proper tax channels, like the majority of Marple local traders do.

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/oct/16/tax-biggest-us-companies-uk
  

[hollins]

Which countries do you think Google should pay tax in? It is accessible in almost all countries of the world - are you expecting it to pay taxes in all of them?

Suppose an American family reads the Marple website, clicks on one of the advertisers and orders some of their goods by post (you never know!). Should the Marple website pay American taxes? That would be ludicrous.

I expect Google to pay taxes in whichever country it has a physical (not virtual) presence. I'm guessing that most of its manpower and servers are located in America and will be depending on American infrastructure. Therefore, it should be paying American not British taxes.

[marplerambler]

Many thanks sgk. That's two off the list right away. I was beginning to feel like Ronnie Corbett being asked for four candles (or was it fork handles?).

[Tricky]

Apt username  

[sgk]

I have just responded to a request asking for old images of Strines by recommending that he 'googles Stockport Council Image Archive' to see their fantastic collection of old photographs of all districts which are now part of Stockport MBC and at the same time I realise that I face a moral dilemma! I am boycotting Boots, Cadbury, Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Amazon and Ebay (for details of more tax avoiders check the '38 degrees' website). They don't want to pay British so I am shopping elsewhere but I cannot find a satisfactory alternative to tax avoiding Google. The MSN search on my computer is useless, Ask Jeeves is not particularly brilliant. Is there a satisfactory alternative to Google which does pay British tax? Secondly 38 degrees shows 13 big tax avoiding companies. Does anyone know of newspaper articles or reports about other companies in Marple and Stockport which avoid tax? No personal speculation which could get an individual (or Marple Website) into trouble please - just reference to newspaper articles or bona fide reports which have been published elsewhere.

Microsoft's MSN and Bing search engines would need boycotting too, given that it's been reported they paid £0 UK tax on £1.7bn online revenue from the UK.

Perhaps you should just content yourself with using these companies regardless, but at the same time never click the adverts that appear when using them, therefore reducing the money they make from you?