“Nothing angers the British public more than multinationals like Amazon, Google and others paying ultra-low levels of tax,” Tax Justice UK said.
“The Biden plan is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put that right. The US president has proposed a new global minimum tax rate for companies to tackle this behaviour. After a year in which many big tech firms have done well, we need to build back better and move beyond our outdated global tax system.”
Under Mr Biden’s plan, the world’s 100 most profitable multinationals would pay taxes to national governments based on the sales they generate in each country, no matter where they are based.
The global giant racked up revenues of more than £4million an hour in 2020. However, it paid no corporation tax after recording its biggest annual loss so far.
Taxing Amazon: Record revenue, zero tax
Last year, Amazon's revenue came in at almost 44 billion euros across the company's European operations. That was a record sum, made possible by a surge in online sales during the coronavirus pandemic. But Amazon paid no corporation tax whatsoever. How is that possible? Brent Goff asked the Chief Executive of the Fair Tax Foundation, Paul Monaghan.
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Last year, the European branch of
Amazon realised a turnover of 44 billion euros. However, the e-commerce giant is not paying any corporation tax on those revenues.
Loss
Partly thanks to the coronavirus crisis, Amazon EU saw its turnover rise by 12 billion euros last year, writes The Guardian. Despite this, the Luxembourg-based company officially posted a loss of 1.2 billion euros, which means it does not have to pay corporation tax. In fact, Amazon was granted 56 million euros in tax credits, which it can deduct from any future profits.
"Amazon’s revenues have soared under the pandemic while our high streets struggle," said British MP Margaret Hodge. "Yet the company continues to shift its profits to tax havens like Luxembourg to avoid paying its fair share of tax. These big digital companies all rely on our public services, our infrastructure, and our educated and healthy workforce," Hodge added.
The retail giant set up shop in Luxembourg in 2003 and quickly secured a confidential agreement with tax authorities in the low-tax country, where many major companies have offices.
In 2017, the European Commission found that Luxembourg had offered Amazon at least €250 million in tax advantages, which was branded illegal state support. Luxembourg appealed against the determination, however, and proceedings in the case are still ongoing.
In a statement on Twitter, high-profile economics expert Yanis Varoufakis took aim at the European Union for not doing more to prevent companies like Amazon from benefiting from Luxembourg's tax laws.
"If the EU had a semblance of decency, a troika should be sent to Luxembourg & its banks should be shut down," Varoufakis, who Euronews has contacted for further comment, said.
Last modified on Tue 4 May 2021 01.39 EDT
Top story: Local elections campaigning heats up
Hello, I’m Warren Murray back with Tuesday’s news.
The UK still has a system that allows power to be abused, Keir Starmer has said, pledging that the Labour party will “clean up our politics”. In the final days before polls close for local, mayoral, Welsh and Scottish elections, the Labour leader will attempt to draw a close connection between the stories of Tory sleaze and their effect on ordinary people. Labour sources said Starmer would link the row over Boris Johnson’s lavish Downing St refurbishments to the early days of the pandemic and question whether the prime minister was distracted as he apparently sought donors to sponsor the decorations, which he has now funded himself.
Online retailer Amazon paid no corporation tax on its operations in Europe in 2020 despite enjoying record sales income of â¬43.8 billion, according to corporate filings seen by The Irish Times.
The figures are fuelling scrutiny of the internet retailerâs tax arrangements as momentum grows for a global deal on corporate taxation after a year in which a shift towards online shopping due to the pandemic helped double Amazonâs profits in the United States.
Corporate filings in Luxembourg â home to the internet giantâs EU headquarters that handles sales for the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden â showed that Amazon EU Sarl had record sales of â¬43.8 billion last year, up from â¬32 billion in 2019.