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Starbucks: Social responsibility and tax avoidance

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  • Campbell, Katherine
  • Helleloid, Duane

Abstract

This instructional case is designed to explore how accounting choices, and specifically tax minimization practices, should consider a company's overall strategy and positioning within multiple stakeholder groups. Starbucks had been successful in growing its stores and presence in the United Kingdom (UK), and described the profitable growth to investors as something it wanted to build on in other international markets. However, in its 15 years of operations in the UK, the company had paid UK corporate income taxes only once. Using a combination of legal tax avoidance practices (e.g., transfer prices, royalty payments, interest expense), Starbucks UK had effectively shifted taxable income to other Starbucks subsidiaries where it would be taxed at lower rates. In 2012, Starbucks in the UK faced a public relations furor over its failure to pay British corporate income taxes. While the tax avoidance practices Starbucks used were common among multinational companies, Starbucks had been very public in its commitment to being socially responsible and a good citizen of the communities in which it operated. This included, among other aspects, paying fair wages to employees and paying fair prices to coffee growers in developing countries. Thus, its critics found it easy to point out that not paying its fair share of taxes was inconsistent with the image Starbucks was portraying to consumers. Case questions are designed to help you think about the strategic, legal, ethical, and public relations implications of tax minimization strategies, especially when companies portray themselves as responsible “citizens” of the communities in which they operate. The questions also probe whether other characteristics of firms, including their “home” country and the nature of the business, have implications for public perceptions about corporate tax minimization strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Campbell, Katherine & Helleloid, Duane, 2016. "Starbucks: Social responsibility and tax avoidance," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 38-60.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:joaced:v:37:y:2016:i:c:p:38-60
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jaccedu.2016.09.001
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Apostolou, Barbara & Dorminey, Jack W. & Hassell, John M. & Rebele, James E., 2017. "Accounting education literature review (2016)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-31.
    2. Prianto Budi Saptono & Gustofan Mahmud & Fauzilah Salleh & Intan Pratiwi & Dwi Purwanto & Ismail Khozen, 2024. "Tax Complexity and Firm Tax Evasion: A Cross-Country Investigation," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-36, April.
    3. Leon Zolotoy & Don O’Sullivan & Geoffrey P. Martin & Robert M. Wiseman, 2021. "Stakeholder Agency Relationships: CEO Stock Options and Corporate Tax Avoidance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 782-814, May.
    4. Franz W. Wagner, 2019. "Unternehmensbesteuerung und Corporate Social Responsibility [Business Taxation and Corporate Social Responsibility]," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 347-380, November.
    5. Saurabh Ahluwalia, 2022. "A critique of corporate social responsibility in light of classical economics," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 12(1), pages 25-29, June.
    6. Cooper, Maggie & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2020. "Multinational enterprises and corporate tax planning: A review of literature and suggestions for a future research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    7. Luk Luk Fuadah & Kencana Dewi & Mukhtaruddin Mukhtaruddin & Umi Kalsum & Anton Arisman, 2022. "The Relationship between Sustainability Reporting, E-Commerce, Firm Performance and Tax Avoidance with Organizational Culture as Moderating Variable in Small and Medium Enterprises in Palembang," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Hasan, Iftekhar & Karavitis, Panagiotis & Kazakis, Pantelis & Leung, Woon Sau, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Profit Shifting," MPRA Paper 91580, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Panagiotis Karavitis & Pantelis Kazakis & Tianyue Xu, 2021. "Overconfident CEOs, Corporate Social Responsibility & Tax Avoidance: Evidence from China," Working Papers 2021_18, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    10. Plesner Rossing, Jacob Christian & Pearson, Thomas C., 2022. "Tax-compliant transfer pricing of intra-group services: The soft drink case," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    11. Ali Ahmed & Chris Jones & Yama Temouri, . "The relationship between MNE tax haven use and FDI into developing economies characterized by capital flight," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    12. Hoozée, Sophie & Maussen, Sophie & Bruggeman, Werner & Scheipers, Geert, 2020. "Fitting responsibility center structures to strategy: Bakery Products International," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    13. Robert-Aurelian ȘOVA & Adriana Florina POPA, 2020. "Challenges of the Digital Era Development in Relation to Tax Systems. Taxing the Digital Economy," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 1(3), pages 65-70, March.

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