Amazon’s main UK division has paid corporation tax for the first time since 2020 after the end of a “super-deduction” tax break introduced by Ri

Amazon UK pays corporation tax for first time since 2020

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2024-10-01 14:00:08

Amazon’s main UK division has paid corporation tax for the first time since 2020 after the end of a “super-deduction” tax break introduced by Rishi Sunak.

Amazon UK Services, which employs more than half of the group’s UK workers, said it paid £18.7m in “current tax” last year, which is understood to have been largely corporation tax.

The company received a £7.8m tax credit in 2022 and a £1.1m credit in 2021 after its investments in infrastructure, including robotic equipment at its warehouses, benefited from Sunak’s measure, introduced when he was chancellor. It said its other UK entities paid an undisclosed amount of current tax in 2022 and 2023.

Amazon, which has more than 25 warehouses in the UK and corporate offices in six cities, said its British businesses made sales of £27bn in 2023, up from £24bn in 2022. It now rings up more than double the sales of the traditional retailer Marks & Spencer in the UK, but pays less than double the tax.

The group has previously faced criticism over the amount of tax it pays in the UK relative to the size of its operations. High street retail chains have claimed the company has an unfair advantage as they pay high business rates on their physical stores.