The reason: tax codes have been designed to minimise liabilities and maximise opportunities for tax evasion.
Which is why today's report by the Public Accounts Committee PACC), which points out that as huge and clever multinationals they exploit legal devices to minimise their liability to corporation tax in the UK, is of moment.
Some booksellers argued that the deposit provision only applied to registered books, and so deliberately avoided registration just to be able to minimise their liability.
Last week Google was accused by MPs of "doing evil" by using "devious, calculated and unethical" tricks to minimise its liabilities.
High-street shops have to pay rates as well as tax on their profits, but companies like Amazon use international tax laws to minimise their liabilities.
The details of Luxembourg's record as a centre for tax avoidance came in leaks of more than 28,000 documents that revealed how the authorities, headed by Juncker, reached agreements with more than 300 global companies allowing them to minimise their liabilities.
The documents handed over to HMRC allegedly show how Google's London sales staff would negotiate and sign contracts with British customers, and cash was paid into a UK bank account, but the deals were technically booked through its Dublin office to minimise its liabilities here.
Companies spend much time and money on their tax strategies, not just to legally minimise their liabilities, but also to ensure business essentials, such as the continuity of cash-flow.
Mr Miliband welcomed the company's support for international tax reform and said action was needed to crack down on tax havens and "crazy rules" allowing the transfer of profits from one country to another to minimise tax liabilities.
Nick Bubb, an independent retail analyst, added: "All that matters to WHS is profit, cash and dividends (and their growth record in that regard is exemplary), so nobody in the City is surprised that they take a hard line on minimising tax liabilities of all kinds.
