Tesco, government approved

For those of us who are used to the seemingly never ending waste of our resources in trying to understand and advise over unintelligible tax policy and legislation, it is always cheering to see some other fools also devoting their time to the futile pursuit of tax.

Step forward the investigative journalists from the Guardian who are reported to have spent months uncovering the tax saving schemes entered into by Tesco in managing its property portfolio. Not far behind in the numpty stakes are the MPs, who are peeved that they might have to do some work and hold an inquiry into the effect of laws which they, themselves, make. Last, and always least, we have Polly Toynbee, who never disappoints when it comes to chipping in with her featherweight intellectual outrage against anyone who might be rich or foreign.

There is no suggestion, and certainly no allegation, that Tesco, in its routing of transactions through the Caymans Islands, has been undertaking an activity which is unlawful. Rather, to the fair share brigade, Tesco are guilty simply only of not paying as much tax as the Guardian wants the company to pay.

But the Guardian does not make the laws which determine how much tax a company pays. If the newspaper did, it would then have saved itself an awful lot of effort because the government, which does, will be aware, through the agency of HMRC Large Business Service, of Tesco's arrangements, and absent any challenge in the courts or representation to the Treasury for changes in the extant law, must presumably agree that Tesco's planning activities are acceptable at law.

So, the only people who can do anything about the perceived abuse are doing diddly squat. The Guardian and Polly Pointless investigating the policies of their New Labour chums towards big business; now, that would be a story.