Google pays Britain just £36million in corporation tax

Google pays Britain just £36million in corporation tax

NEWS: goo.gl/a3kAcQ



Google paid £36.4 million in UK corporation tax for the year to June 30, 2016, the company has revealed.

The US search giant recorded sales of £1.03bn and a pre-tax profit of £149m in the UK for the 12 months to the end of June 2016.

Google and other major tech firms have come under pressure over their tax arrangements.



A Google spokesman said: 'As an international business, we pay the majority of our taxes in our home country, as well as all the taxes due in the UK.

'We have recently announced significant new investment in the UK, including new offices in Kings Cross for 7,000 staff.'

The search giant has been under acute political pressure in recent weeks over the presence of extremist content on its YouTube video platform.

Google executives were among a delegation summoned to meet Home Secretary Amber Rudd in Whitehall last night.



In January last year, Google agreed to pay the Treasury £130million it should have handed over in the previous decade.

The deal was lauded by then chancellor George Osborne as a 'major success' for the Treasury but was condemned by opposition politicians.

Google has always insisted it abides by tax laws but critics say its complex financial arrangements allow it to avoid taxation on billions of pounds of revenue.

The Government passed new laws aimed at trapping revenue from multinational technology companies in Britain to try and increase revenue.

But today's figures will fuel criticism that the measures are ineffective.



Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Susan Kramer said: 'It is appalling that Google are still getting away with paying such a paltry amount of their total revenue back in taxes.

'Our worst fear is that the Tories would use Brexit to turn the UK into a tax haven sitting off the northern shores of Europe, there is no sign that this isn't where we are headed.

'This Government is already struggling with the Brexit squeeze, if they want to stop cutting vital services they need to start picking up what is owed to the British people.

'The government seem to be letting big online businesses off the hook, while small businesses, the heart of our high streets get whacked by ever increasing business rates. It's totally and utterly unfair.'



Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said 'This revelation only further proves that Philip Hammond and Theresa May are more interested in cutting Google's taxes, than making sure they are paying their fair share.



'It seems that the so called 'successful' tax deal with Google that George Osborne boasted about last year has meant that they are still not paying their fair share under his successor Philip Hammond. We urgently need clarity on HMRC's relationship with Google and what reassurances have been provided to the company.



'It is a national disgrace that by paying just £36 million in tax Google could have an effective tax rate lower than many working families in our country. And it exposes the complacency at the heart of this Tory Government, which is allowing this to still continue despite last year's scandal.



'It's time that the Tories got a grip of big corporations not paying their way, instead of going ahead with £70 billion in tax giveaways to big business and the super-rich, while cutting in-work benefits for the low paid, and threatening to turn our country into a tax haven.



'The truth is that the Tories have no interest in standing up for working people, only Labour with our Tax Transparency and Enforcement Programme will bring in full, public, country-by-country reporting.