Amazon has faced criticism for failing to reveal its total corporation tax bill in the UK, despite a near tripling of payments from its key British division. Amazon UK Services, which handles warehousing and logistics and employs over two-thirds of Amazon's 27,500 UK staff, reported a corporation tax contribution of £14m for 2018, up from £4.7m in 2017.
The division's annual filing showed sales rose 18% to £2.3bn and pre-tax profits increased 4% to £75.4m. However, Amazon does not disclose profits or tax payments for its entire UK operation, which includes its retail business alongside warehouses and logistics. Richard Murphy, professor at City, University of London, said: 'If it wants us to believe it is paying the right amount of tax it has got to give enough information. No accounting number makes sense in isolation.'
Amazon attempted to deflect criticism by issuing a statement saying it paid £220m in direct taxes across its UK operations last year, including employer's national insurance, business rates, corporation tax, and stamp duty. However, it did not break down the figure to show the corporation tax paid by its UK business, which had total sales of $14.5bn (£10.9bn).
Murphy estimated that Amazon should pay at least £100m in corporation tax alone, based on profit rates similar to the group overall. He called the £14m payment 'the square root of diddly-squat'. Paul Monaghan of the Fair Tax Mark noted that Lush, a Fair Tax Mark accredited company, paid only about £1m less in tax on profits of £23.4m, less than a third of Amazon UK Services' profits.
Amazon said it had invested over £18bn in its UK operations between 2010 and 2018, including building offices and warehouses and paying salaries. The company stated: 'As we continue to hire and grow in the UK, we help fund public services and infrastructure throughout the country.'
