Amazon, a leading online shopping company, has paid £492 million in taxes on sales which rose 50% to £20.63 billion, as COVID-19 pandemic continues to trigger demand for its services.
The company, which said it had invested £32bn in UK infrastructure since 2010, disclosed the tax payment in its latest financial results
It stated: “We are proud of the significant economic contribution we are making to the UK economy.
“Looking ahead, we know that the UK remains full of opportunity and we continue to be excited by the potential to continue to invest, create jobs, develop talent and have a positive impact in communities across the country,” the tech firm added.
According to the figures, Amazon’s total sales in the UK rose to £20.63 billion during 2020, up by more than 50% from £13.73 billion it earned from sales in the preceding financial year.
A news report by the BBC on the financial statement indicated that company, which employs 55,000 people in the UK, said the taxes included business rates, stamp duty, corporation tax and other contributions. The online shopping giant further stated that employers’ national insurance taxes accounted for the majority of the bill as it engaged additional 22,000 workers last year.
However, GMB, the union for Amazon workers, said the company’s tax bill was “frankly insulting” and said firms that had profited from the pandemic should pay more.
Reacting to the financial statements of the company and the paid tax, GMB National Officer, Mick Rix, said: “Amazon workers suffer unsafe, dehumanizing work practices; breaking bones, falling unconscious and being taken away in ambulances.
“Ministers must get a grip of this runaway company and make sure pandemic profiteers pay more.
Amazon’s key UK business paid just £3.8m more corporation tax last year than in 2019, even as sales increased by £1.89bn”, the labour leader added.
Amazon and other tech firms, which pay tax on profits not sales, have recently been contending with strict scrutiny over the level of their tax bills in the UK.
It would be recalled that in April last year, the UK government launched a 2% tax on digital sales amid concerns that big tech firms were re-routing their profits through low tax jurisdictions.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said in June last year that the COVID-19 pandemic crisis had made tech giants even “more powerful and more profitable”.
In other countries, other global tech firms have faced similar scrutiny in recent times over their tax bills.
For instance, French tax authorities recently settled disputes with Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon over their operations in the country over the last decade.
Last year, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, said he recognised the public’s frustration over the amount of tax paid by tech firms and backed plans by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to find a lasting solution to the fiscal challenge.
