Should Tesco be paying a dividend after receiving nearly £600m of state support? It’s complicated

The question of whether our taxes should be going to the supermarket as it continues to pay out to shareholders filters into a wider conversation about big businesses and how they’re managed, James Moore says

Tesco says panic buying has largely come to an end (AP)

Should Tesco be paying a dividend?

Outside the blizzard of eye-popping numbers the supermarket released alongside its annual results – including sales of baked beans doubling and those of liquid soap jumping by a staggering 363 per cent – this was the perhaps the biggest point of debate.

And… it’s complicated.