The former CEO of Sainsbury's, Justin King, has asked UK government authorities to "make Amazon pay [its] fair share of tax", according to a report in Retail Gazette.
The remarks came after it came to light that Amazon doubled its profits in 2017, but paid £2.8 million less than it should have in UK corporation tax.
The company incurred taxes amounting to £4.6 million, but paid just £1.7 million.
Review Of British Tax System
Speaking to Sky News, King said that the British tax system needed amendments to prevent online companies like Amazon from having “an unfair advantage”.
King called for business rates to be halved, with the lost revenue replaced by a 2% increase in VAT.
According to him, such a measure wouldn't result in an increase in store prices, but would result in online businesses paying a fairer share of tax.
Apart from that, he also suggested imposing a “delivery tax” on online retailers that “bypass retail space”.
Amazon Tax Affairs Under Scrutiny
The tax affairs of Amazon and other tech companies have been the subject of parliamentary scrutiny across Europe in recent years.
It is unclear how much UK tax Amazon that pays in total, as Amazon EU Sarl’s UK branch doesn’t publish accounts.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
