Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay and Apple avoided £1BILLION of UK tax
A Mirror investigation has revealed the UK is missing out on huge sums as multinational firms are based in tax havens
Five of the world’s biggest tech companies avoided paying £1 BILLION in UK tax last year, the Mirror can reveal.
Mirror’s investigation has revealed that, despite claims by Chancellor George Osborne to be cracking down on tax avoidance, the UK is missing out vast sums thanks to multinational firms basing themselves in notorious tax havens.
We have examined the latest UK accounts of Apple, Facebook, Amazon, eBay and Google and found the five firms officially reported revenue of £2.6million here.
But many more billions of pounds of cash spent by UK consumers are recorded every year by their sister companies located in tax havens like Luxembourg and Ireland.
Industry experts estimate the true UK sales of the five firms to be nearly £18 billion – yet they paid just £45 million in corporation tax here – a rate of 0.25%.
Taxes are paid on profits not sales and yet it is impossible to know the true UK profits of these five companies due to the legal tax loopholes they use.
John Christensen, director of the Tax Justice Network, said: “The UK revenue is facing a genuine crisis.
“Despite all the claims about tackling tax avoidance, we don’t seem to be making sufficient progress in the right direction.
“This government’s policy now needs urgent review.”
Amazon
- Total UK sales in 2014 – £5.1bn
- Disclosed UK revenue for Amazon.co.uk Limited – £639m
- UK profits – £34.4m
- UK corporation tax – £11.9m
An Amazon spokesman said: “Amazon pays all applicable taxes in all the countries in which it operates.”
He added that Amazon was “now recording retail sales made to customers in the UK through the UK branch. Previously, these sales were recorded in Luxembourg”.
eBay
- Total UK sales in 2014 – £1.6bn
- Disclosed UK revenue for eBay (UK) Limited – £190m
- UK profits – £8.8m
- UK corporation tax – £617,000
An eBay spokeswoman said: “eBay complies fully with all applicable tax laws and regimes – including national, EU, and internationally recognised rules.”
- UK sales in 2014 (estimated) – £798m
- Disclosed UK revenue for Facebook UK Limited – £105m
- UK loss – £28.5m
- UK corporation tax – £4,327
A Facebook spokesman said: “We are compliant with UK tax law and in fact all countries where we have employees and offices.”
Apple
- UK sales in 2014 (estimated) – £7.2bn
- Disclosed UK revenue for Apple UK Limited and Apple Retail UK Limited – £1bn
- UK profits – £97.3m
- UK corporation tax – £11.8
Boss Tim Cook said in December: “Apple pays every tax dollar we owe.”
- UK sales in 2013 – £3.3billion
- Dislosed UK revenue- £642million
- Profit – £70million
- Tax- £20.4million
Google has recently struck a deal to pay £130 million in back taxes and said: “After a six-year audit by the tax authority we are paying the amount of tax that HMRC agrees we should pay.
“Governments make tax law, the tax authorities enforce the law and Google complies with the law.”
Source: Mirror – Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay and Apple avoided £1BILLION of UK tax
