News reports this year claimed that almost half of Britain's leading companies were failing to comply with the law by avoiding paying their taxes. Over 100 firms on the FTSE 350 index have now been accused of tax evasion, with many leading firms hiding profits offshore to avoid paying UK tax.
The team at Mercer & Hole (London, England) accountants know a thing or two about tax and accountancy and wanted to investigate further. In this article we will take a look at the top six companies that have been accused of not paying their taxes.
1. Amazon
Online retailer Amazon was accused of using Luxembourg as a location to dramatically reduce their tax obligations in the UK. It was found that the company paid just £1.8m in corporation tax in 2011, despite its £3.35bn UK sales. The company justified these figures claiming they only made seventy four million pounds in profit.
2. Starbucks
Coffee giant Starbucks did not pay any UK corporation tax in 2011, despite making £380m that year. They claimed they had been making a loss fourteen out of the fifteen years' operating in the UK, however investigations suggested that this information was inconsistent with their accounts and certainly wasn't what they had been telling their shareholders. After a public boycott and discussions with HMRC, Starbucks agreed to pay £20m in corporation tax over the next two years.
3. Facebook
Social media company Facebook were found not to have paid any UK corporation tax in the 2012 fiscal year, despite its UK operation reporting a 70 per cent increase in income from the previous year. Figures show Facebook only paid £1m in UK corporation tax since 2007, despite making half a billion pounds in revenue in Britain. Of course the press spokesman claimed that the company pays all the taxes required by UK law.
