News out this week suggests that Amazon will pay almost nothing under the new Digital Services Tax. The government brought in the tax to try and get some revenue out of the internet giants. But the design of the tax means its impact will be limited.
According to news reports , Amazon plans to pass on almost all extra costs to third party sellers on its platform. It’s not just Amazon. Google has also announced that it will also pass on extra costs from the tax to customers.
Amazon’s UK tax bill last year was reportedly £293 million on sales of £13 billion. But it’s currently impossible to know how much tax the company should actually be paying. We need to lift the lid on company accounts to get a clearer picture of how much tax big companies need to pay.
The Digital Services Tax will supposedly bring in £500 million a year. This is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount that the UK loses through tax avoidance.
We’re calling on politicians to reform the way we tax big corporations. We need to end the current system that allows companies to unfairly slash their tax bills. Tinkering around the edge isn’t enough. And it doesn’t work.
Our partners at the global Tax Justice Network have set out how to comprehensively reform the global corporate tax system . Politicians should take notice.
The public wants action. 84% of people want politicians to close loopholes to stop tax avoidance.
But not all companies behave this way. The Fair Tax Mark is given to businesses that are fair and transparent on tax. There is another way.