Gruniad accounting #fail
Given that the Gruniad’s parent company has demonstrated in previous years how to make themselves as tax efficient s possible, it might be expected by now that some of their skill in reading a balance sheet might have passed down to the reporters of said organ.
It seems though that such knowledge transfer isn’t taking place if today’s attempt to do a hatchet job on Lycamobile is anything to go by.
So, what has Lycamobile done to deserve the hairdryer treatment?
A mobile phone company that has paid no corporation tax for three years has become the Conservatives’ most generous corporate donor after giving more than £300,000 over the last nine months, new figures show.
…
The latest available figures show the company did not pay any tax between 2008 and 2010, despite generating a turnover of between £47m and £88m.
Now those with half a brain cell will already be screaming that turnover isn’t profit and you’d be correct – but the Gruniad article is written to fulfil an agenda and nowhere in the piece is the actual profit/loss mentioned.
So what are the relevant figures* (2011 numbers were not available)?
Year | Turnover (£m) | Profit (£m) |
---|---|---|
2009 | 47.90 | -10.91 |
2010 | 88.04 | -6.86 |
And now we know why Lycamobile paid no corporation tax in 2010 and 2011.