Amazon will pay taxes in the UK

Photo: Graeme Robertson / the Guardian

Amazon has decided to process goods for the British in the UK, not in Luxembourg. As a result, taxes from Amazon will go to the UK budget in full. Registration of retail sales to British customers through the British branch began on May 1, writes Kommersant. Amazon will switch to a similar scheme of work in other European countries.

At the same time, the company believes that it is not worth expecting an increase in the level of tax payments to countries where Amazon branches operate. The reason is that taxes are calculated from the company's profit, and not from the proceeds. At the same time, e-commerce is a relatively low-profit business, Amazon representatives say, and as a result of constantly investing in the form of investments around the world, the company's profit is reduced even more.

As for the UK, previously almost all of the company's profits went to Luxembourg, where Amazon has been registered for over 11 years. The UK received a small fraction of tax deductions. For example, in 2013, the amount of company taxes paid in the UK amounted to just £ 4.2 million. However, over the year, sales of goods in Britain brought Amazon £ 4.71 billion, and almost all taxes went to Luxembourg. The reason is that Luxembourg has a preferential tax regime.

Most likely, the reason for changing the tax payment scheme for Amazon is the adoption of a new law on the introduction of tax on tax derived from the UK tax. This law obliges companies that take profits abroad, in order to reduce tax costs, to pay 25% tax. Corporate tax in the UK is now 20%.

Most likely, other large companies, including Google and Apple, will follow Amazon’s example.