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Amazon’s plastic packaging
Oceana report: Plastic pollution from Amazon deliveries up 29% in just one year.
17 December 2021
Ethical Consumer’s latest estimates suggest Amazon’s corporation tax avoidance cost UK citizens approximately £433 million in 2023.
60% of the public considers tax avoidance unacceptable, according to the latest YouGov poll on whether it is acceptable to avoid taxes legally.
Despite Amazon paying an estimated £18.7m in UK corporation tax last year, the first time it has paid any corporation tax since 2020, there are still millions being missed.
Ethical Consumer has been tracking Amazon UK’s tax avoidance annually since 2019 and has been campaigning against the company since 2012.
The organisation argues that the additional money in 2023 alone could be used to pay for over 12,700 nurses or cover nearly 1.5m annual winter fuel payments.
‘When companies avoid tax, everybody loses. Across the globe, 35% of multinational profits (US$1tn) are artificially shifted to tax havens each year, robbing public services of vital funding. At the Fair Tax Foundation, we want to see companies of all shapes and sizes pay the right amount of tax, in the right place, at the right time.’
NATASHA TURNER
From the Fair Tax Foundation
In the years 2021 and 2022, Amazon didn’t only not pay corporation tax, it received tax credits from the UK government due to a tax credit scheme set up under Rishi Sunak’s government.
Its 2023 corporation tax payment will represent a mere 0.07% of Amazon UK’s annual sales.
Other UK wholesale and retail businesses paid £8.7bn in corporation tax between them in 2022/23.
Contributing to this sum will be some of Amazon’s biggest rivals, including Tesco (£223m) and Sainsbury (£99m).
With the new Labour government citing a £22bn black hole in the country’s finances, it is clear that corporations need to pay their fair share.
Amazon has replaced many existing retailers who were paying tax, and this continues to have a dramatic effect on the UK’s high streets.
Ethical Consumer highlights that the additional £433m could be used to pay for 5,932 additional doctors, 12,735 new teachers, 61,857 home insulation installations at £7,000 each or 3,256 new social homes.
Oceana report: Plastic pollution from Amazon deliveries up 29% in just one year.
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