Following investigations by journalists and whistleblowers, it turns out that despite generating $18bn in revenue from its operations in the UK between 2006 and 2011, Google has paid just $16m in tax.
This and other tax avoiding companies have been highlighted in a recent report published by the Public Accounts Committee.
As a member of that Committee, Justin has been grilling these companies, holding meetings with senior figures from companies like Amazon, challenging them about their tax arrangements. Amazon base themselves in Luxembourg in order to avoid paying Corporation Tax in the UK, giving them an unfair advantage over local and national businesses who can’t afford to avoid tax in this way.
Justin Tomlinson said “It is simply not acceptable for companies to avoid paying their fair share of tax. I used to run my own business in Swindon, I paid all my taxes, I do not see why it should be any different for Starbucks, Amazon or Google. When they don’t pay, it means we all have to pay more and that is not fair.
“I fully support the Prime Minister and Chancellor in their efforts to put tax avoidance at the top of the agenda at the recent G8 summit in Northern Ireland. HMRC has recovered over £10bn of avoided tax and we will continue to make the changes needed to our tax system to safeguard revenue and ensure the burden is spread fairly.”
