Blockbuster's Tax Evasion Revealed Amidst Administration

Merely a week after DVD rental chain Blockbuster went into administration, a Guardian analysis has revealed that the company only paid £250,000 in corporation tax over a 15-year spell in which it made sales of more than £3.5bn.

This week, Deloitte confirmed plans to close 129 Blockbuster stores, a move which will put 760 of its 4,190 staff out of work. The chain has struggled to post a consistent profit over the last 15 years in which accounts have been available, but despite that, they were charged almost £78m in royalties - for use of the Blockbuster brand, IT systems and other franchise rights - by its then parent Blockbuster Inc. British Prime Minister David Cameron has recently vowed to put an end to the largest multinational corporations finding loopholes in tax payments. "It's simply not fair and not right what some of them are doing by saying: 'I've got lots of sales in here in the UK but I'm going to pay a sort of royalty fee to another company that I own in another country that has some special tax dispensation,'" he said.

HMV are another high-street media-selling brand to fall into trouble, after the popular chain was forced into administration. A ray of light, though, for consumers at least, is that they'll be able to start using gift cards in the store. HMV had previously stated that they couldn't accept them, leaving people who had received them as gifts angry.