Cynical
Feedback
I look at this site and what jumps out at me is that it appears to be a platform
for Amazon.
Each page seems to be dominated by items for sale on Amazon.
The cynical part is that probably people advertising items or purchasing them
probably pay more tax than Amazon do.
Just saying.
Amazon UK is very good at keeping its tax bill down for sure.
The company’s pre-tax profits trebled from £24m in 2016 to £72m in 2017, yet its tax bill fell from £7.4m to £4.6m.
And payment was deferred for much of the bill, so it only had to hand over £1.7m to the taxman.
How does it do it?
Amazon has been paying employees in the form of shares, which is an expense it can offset against corporation tax. The rules say employees can be awarded £3,600 a year tax-free. Amazon’s share price has more than trebled in the last three years, so the employees given shares won’t complain!
The loser is HMRC, which misses out on the corporation tax and the taxes it would have got if the money had been paid as part of the employees’ salary.
This is completely legal, and long-established government policy, launched by the Labour government in 2000.
Amazon's sales made to customers in the UK are also booked through the UK branch of a Luxembourg-based company, Amazon EU Sarl, which also helps Amazon be 'tax-efficient'.
I don't blame them
That said, Amazon’s UK workforce increased by more than 5,000 in 2017, so more money from income tax, national insurance, VAT etc flows to the Exchequer that way.
Wow that is very useful information I never knew this thanks for letting us know, that's a very clever way to dodge tax and only a company as powerful as Amazon could do that with the best accountants on this planet.
I see you have only made comments but not shared anything else since you joined so I wonder if you realise it is us, the users, who post the deals, vouchers etc and earn points from doing so. It is hardly the fault of the LD team if we, the users, post a higher percentage of Amazon stuff. I personally have never done so but as Amazon has unending deals daily it stands to reason that us, the users, are going to post those deals as a quick and easy way of earning points.
It sickens me that companies like Amazon and Starbucks do not pay their proper amount of tax and think it a matter of priority that the government should close the loopholes that allow it.
Well, for online shopping the easiest and most convenient retailer is in fact Amazon so no surprise they dominate those departments.
There are various retailers you can think of but as far as doing free shipping and having it in stock, Amazon is most likely the one.
eBay is more of marketplace to sell used stuff (and new, too).
But hey, what do you propose doing to beat Amazon?
It has been talked about today in parliament. As has been suggested that an online tax is imposed. Would not object to that
Join for free to get genuine deals, money saving advice and help from our friendly community
Chief Bargain Hunter
