[snoonan]

That's populist propaganda. Businesses are taxed on profit, not revenue. Even if they were 100% based in the UK, they'd still probably pay very low corporate taxes (if any) due to the thin margin. They actually do pay an enormous amount of tax in the UK in the form of payroll taxes, VAT collections, etc.

It's sad to see people propagate this crap. It's really about veiled protectionism. A big, efficient player comes in and is willing to forego profit indefinitely. Can't tax them legally, so shame them. Tax on 0 is 0. That's how it works for UK companies too. Try reading between the lines...

[newaccountfool]

I mean they don't pay corporation tax, they're based in Luxembourg for that reason. Why should I have to pay a ridiculous amount of money, when they don't pay anything.

[snoonan]

They pay corp tax on the profit they earn in their UK's operations. Just like every other company with operations in the UK.

What percentage of your revenue do you pay in corporate taxes? None! You only pay a percentage of profit. (extremely thin for Amazon) They base in Luxembourg to benefit from UK laws and EU regulation. The UK media and government quoting billions in revenue is meaningless. They're trying to stir you up. They would relatively nothing in corp tax relative to their other tax footprint (payroll, vat, etc) and would absolutely spend it all to avoid doing so.

[sudomal]

Then why is Luxembourg such a magnet? It's not just Amazon, companies that exclusively cater for the UK market moved their base there.

[Consultant32452]

Luxembourg is a magnet because the UK government is stupid and creates taxes that are easily avoidable.

[newaccountfool]

Exactly my point, if Amazon are making little now through tax loopholes what happens when they are fixed.

[icebraining]

How is it a "loophole"?

[newaccountfool]

Amazon runs a business in the UK, they are owned by a parent company in Luxembourg that they pay the majority of all their revenue to, thus making almost no profit, thus paying very little in tax.

They run a business in the UK but pay almost nothing in tax, it should be fixed its not fair on small business owners who have to pay all of there tax and get hammered for it.

Can you not see how its a loop hole? It can so easily be fixed.

[icebraining]

Revenue sent to a parent company abroad is deducted as an expense? I find that hard to believe.

According to this article[1], what they actually do is send the payments directly to the Luxembourg company, and Amazon UK is just classified as a delivery company. That makes sense, and frankly, it doesn't shock me. I'm from Portugal and I just bought some comics from an US company. Should they start paying Portuguese corporate taxes?

[SpikeGronim]

Yeah, the reason AMZN doesn't pay UK tax is NOT because they are not profitable. It is because they legally avoid taxes by basing all their EU operations out of Luxemburg. Tax codes need reform world-wide to avoid this kind of bad behavior.